


And We're Equals

by TeegyBee



Series: What A Small World [2]
Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-18
Updated: 2014-03-20
Packaged: 2017-12-26 23:06:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 29,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/971359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeegyBee/pseuds/TeegyBee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Four years after Blaine leaves the hospital, Kurt finds him again in a place he least expects. Old feelings resurface and now that Kurt is no longer Blaine's teacher, what is stopping them from being together?</p><p>SERIES COMPLETE</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reverse The Past

**Author's Note:**

> So, part one of this was full of a lot of unplanned angst, but this one is much happier!

Kurt had been searching for weeks – three, to be exact – three long weeks of interview after interview, meeting after meeting. He had met with his editor more times than he could count on his fingers and had to deal with far too many arrogant, egotistical knuckleheads that thought they were what he was looking for.

At least he had the satisfaction of telling them, "thanks but no thanks."

He was coming to realise that making a movie was very hard.

He knew that it was going to be a long process that would take months to get underway, and even longer to complete, but he had at least hoped he would be further along than he already was.

He had finalised his script and had been given the all clear to start casting actors for the roles, but he couldn't cast anyone until he had the lead and he was struggling to find the right person.

Although appearance could be slightly altered if needed, Kurt didn't want to go through the process of make-up and stylists working hours and hours on set before filming even began. Besides, it was always the natural look that worked the best.

Kurt groaned as he looked at what could have been the fiftieth candidate for the lead role. This was a lot harder than he thought. He shut his laptop, stretching his arms behind his head, feeling a few pops here and there.

He had been studying every single applicant that had auditioned for the lead role, bit no one was standing out. He wanted someone with attitude but not arrogance, someone who was confident but not egotistical. He just couldn't find someone who suited what he was looking for.

Giving up, Kurt shut his laptop off and got up to make himself a coffee, needing the energy back that he had wasted analysing each picture. The smell of coffee ground helped relax him, clearing his mind of the many faces he had been staring at for the past two hours.

It was close to dinner time, so he started pulling out ingredients from his fridge and pantry. He really liked his kitchen. That had been one of the main reasons he had chosen this particular house when he first moved out to Los Angeles two years ago. It was modern, but done in an off-white finish that gave it the appearance of an old-style kitchen with open space that made it easy to work in.

_Knock, knock, knock._

Kurt groaned. He did not want to deal with his editor, or manager or anyone tonight. He just wanted to sit down with his dinner and watch re-runs of bad reality TV. Thinking that the person might leave him alone if he ignored them, Kurt kept on stirring the sauce he had put together.

_Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock._

"Seriously?" Kurt grumbled.  _Knock, knock, knock._  "Okay, okay. Coming!"

Kurt had been expecting his editor or manager, or even just a door-to-door salesman, but the guy on the other side of the door was not who Kurt expected. He was handsome. Scratch that; he was  _very_  handsome. His skin was tanned with a small dusting of stubble on his jaw. His black t-shirt was fitted, stretching over his toned arms and torso. His dark hair was gelled lightly to one side, sweeping across in waves.

"Hello, Kurt."

Kurt stared, confused. "Er, hi?"

The man stepped forward and held out his hand in way of greeting. "I'm Matt Bomer, I heard you were looking for a leading actor."

As it turned out, Matt was actually perfect – well,  _almost_  perfect – for the lead role. He had the attitude that Kurt was looking for, though not overly arrogant like most of the others had been. He was also confident, bordering on cocky but not enough to get on Kurt's nerves. If Kurt was being honest, he only invited Matt in and sat him down to an 'interview' as a formality; Matt had the part the second he decided to show up on Kurt's doorstep, unannounced at six o'clock at night requesting the role.

With Kurt's dinner forgotten, he and Matt discussed what needed to be done in order to get the filming process up and running. Apparently, when Matt received word that Kurt was in search for a lead role, he had already comprised a list of people that Kurt could call to ensure he had a full film crew at hand and a company to work for.

The spoke of only basics for the time being, planning to meet the next day to discuss things further and to have Matt read through the script. Kurt told Matt that he wanted to get him comfortable and familiar with his character before he did any readings with other potential cast members.

"Thank-you, Matt," Kurt shook his hand as the man stepped outside, "You have no idea how many… _idiots_  I've had to deal with."

Matt beamed. "Happy to help and hey, I scored myself a lead" he winked as he gripped Kurt's hand, "See you tomorrow."

Finally, at nineteen minutes past eight, Kurt was able to eat his dinner and feel like his movie was actually going somewhere.

The next morning found Kurt travelling the ten minute route to Matt's house. He pulled up on the curd out the front, eyes wide. Matt's house was huge. Though not as large as others in Los Angeles, the two story house was probably five times the size of the house that Kurt grew up in back in Lima. The beige sandstone pillars gave the house a cottage feel, though that was contrasted by the modern architecture and Mercedes Benz that was parked in the driveway.

Still gaping at the property's elite style, Kurt knocked on the door and barely had to wait more than a couple of seconds before the door was ripped out from under his fingers.

"Hey Kurt!" Matt beamed, stepping aside so Kurt could come in.

"Matt, hi."

After offering some food a drink to Kurt, he and Matt began to discuss the script. They spent the next hour talking about what Kurt wanted from Matt in relation to character behaviour and personality; while Matt gave suggestions on things he thought would suit the lead. An hour and a half into their meeting, they were interrupted by the front door opening and the noise of someone arriving home.

"Cooper?"

"Shit!" Matt hissed and then called out. "Ah, in the kitchen."

Footsteps echoed through the hallway – and the many other rooms that had to be passed through to get to the kitchen – before a younger man rounded the corner into the kitchen area where Kurt and Matt were seated.

"So I stopped at the bake-" He froze, stating wide-eyed at Kurt who was staring equally as shocked back. "K…urt."

Kurt schooled his expression and smiled kindly.

"Hi Blaine."


	2. An Old Friend

The name had barely left Kurt's lips when he found himself being engulfed by a set of strong arms, wrapping tightly around his neck and shoulders. He stumbled slightly upon impact, but righted his footing as he curled his arms across Blaine's back.

Blaine pulled Kurt close, holding him against his body as tight as he could. In the last four years, Blaine did nothing but try to forget. He tried to forget everything he used to think, forget everything he had done to himself, everything his parents had put him through. He spent every day of his recovery, every day for a whole year and a half putting himself back together, trying with everything he had to erase the past from his mind.

When Blaine first went in to his recovery, he didn't speak. The nurses prompted him to respond to questions, but he simply hummed as a way of answer. Soon, he didn't use his voice at all. He had been so focussed on not remembering that he found himself lost in his own world, inside his own head.

He felt guilty every minute that he was awake; guilty because he had promised Kurt that he would stay strong and try to recover. He tried, he really did try to fight against it all, but most days he just felt like there was nothing to fight for.

Countless numbers of councillors and psychologists had passed through the doors of his bedroom at the hospital, though none of them were able to get through to Blaine. It wasn't until someone – one of the nurses, Blaine assumed – had been able to contact Cooper that Blaine began to show responsive signs.

For the first couple of weeks, things were rough for the two brothers. Blaine couldn't find it in himself to forgive Cooper for everything that he had done, while Cooper begged and pleaded with Blaine to believe that he had been shut out of Blaine's life by their parents. Months went by and things were still strained, though both brothers were mending their relationship. Blaine was talking again after the first couple of weeks and had made a break-through in his recovery.

He was definitely better now. He still made sure to supress the memories of his past, though not once did he try to forget about the man who had saved his life. He couldn't let go of that memory, not when it had been the only thing that kept him going; which it was. Even if Blaine had only been a shell of himself, it was still Kurt that had kept him from ending everything in the hopes that he would see the man again.

Now, Blaine could barely believe what was happening. Kurt was in his house, holding him just as tightly as Blaine was with no signs of letting go. Blaine let out a laugh but it came out choked, the lump in his throat causing a small squeak of happiness to sound in Kurt's ear.

Blaine was vaguely aware of Cooper still sitting at the table, awkwardly watching his brother hug someone who he assumed to be a stranger, but he was too overwhelmed with happiness to even care.

Blaine slowly pulled away from the embrace, subtly wiping at his eyes when Kurt wasn't looking his way.

"I-It's umm, good to see you, Kurt," Blaine stammered.

Kurt's lips pulled into a heart-warming smile. "Good to see you too, Blaine."

A few moments of silence hung over them before movement from the table caught their attention. "You two know each other?"

"Oh, sorry Coop," Blaine stepped closer to his brother. "Umm, Kurt was my er, senior year English teacher."

Kurt smiled brightly at Cooper, who just stared at his brother, eyes flicking between Kurt and Blaine. Cooper loosely pointed his finger at Kurt, his upper lip raised slightly in confusion. " _You_  were  _his_ ," Cooper turned his finger to Blaine, "English… _teacher_?"

If anyone noticed the slight grimace on Blaine's face, they didn't mention it. Kurt however, just continued to smile brightly and offered Cooper confirmation that he had taught Blaine four years ago.

"How old  _are_  you?"

Blaine blanched. "Cooper!"

Kurt chuckled. "I'm twenty-seven."

Cooper's mental calculation was written all over his face and Blaine stifled a little giggle as his brother attempted to work  _something_  out in his head. "You were  _twenty-three_?"

Kurt nodded. "First year out of college."

Cooper questioned Kurt further for a few minutes until Blaine stepped in and told his brother to quit interrogating him. Although Cooper had been the one to invite Kurt over and they still had more to discuss in relation to Kurt's movie script, Cooper left Blaine and Kurt alone for a while, giving them some time to catch up.

Blaine showed Kurt into the lounge room and they each took a seat on the large couch that was pushed up against the wall, opposite the large flat screen that Cooper had insisted that they needed when some other Hollywood name bought one themselves.

Four years ago, Kurt would have asked Blaine any question he thought of, knowing that even if it hurt to answer, everything would be okay. However, things were different now. Kurt didn't know this Blaine. He didn't know what the last four years of his life had been like, how Cooper had come back into his life and what kind of person he was now. One thing that was obvious though, was that Blaine was no longer just a boy in need of help. He was a recovered man, someone who had survived the worst.

Kurt noticed Blaine's shy smile then, realising that they had both been staring and not actually talking. Kurt coughed awkwardly. "Er, how are you, Blaine?"

"I'm better, heaps better."

Blaine went on to talk about what he had been doing over the past four years. He purposely left out the part where he was practically living as a shell every day. That wasn't something that he wanted Kurt to know. He did, however, tell Kurt about getting into a music theory class at  _Los Angeles City College_  and how he had been chosen by the producer of the college's annual production to compose the music for this year's original performance.

"Blaine, that's…wow, that's amazing," Kurt exclaimed.

The younger man tilted his head slightly and breathed a quiet "Thank-you."

Blaine also asked Kurt what he had been doing, which was actually what lead Blaine to "hang on, what  _are_  you actually doing here?" He gesture around the room with his hands.

"Oh, right…well I'm casting my movie." Kurt explained how he had been on the search for a lead role and was lucky enough that Matt ("wait, Matt or Cooper?" "He's Matt at work, Cooper at home.") had come over when he did before he want stir crazy. Blaine asked question after question about Kurt's life after Dalton, to which Kurt responded with detailed explanations of his film making struggles and lead acting divas. Kurt had actually spent the remainder of the year after Blaine left and stayed on for another two years before moving to Los Angeles.

Time escaped them as they caught up on the last four years until Cooper made his presence known two hours later. "I gotta run, but Kurt, you should stay for a bite."

"Oh, thank-you. But I'm meeting my brother for dinner." Kurt smiled apologetically, feeling guilty at the disappointed look on Blaine's face. Though he was admittedly feeling disappointed as well. If he didn't have to meet up with Finn, then he would have stayed to eat.

Kurt collected all his and Cooper's plans off the table from earlier and promised that they would get the work done the next time around. Cooper clapped Kurt's shoulder before walking off into the direction of the bedrooms.

The two of them stood awkwardly at the door when it came time for Kurt to actually leave. Kurt stepped forward and pulled Blaine into a tight hug. Blaine squeezed Kurt back equally as tight.

"I'm glad you're here."

Blaine didn't even need to ask what Kurt meant, not that he wanted to, he knew it would only make him cry, and he had done enough of that in front of Kurt to last a life time. Though, that didn't stop the stray tear from cascading down his cheek.

"You look much happier."

"I am. I really am much happier," Blaine pulled Kurt closer (if that was even possible) and curled his fingers together, "Especially now."


	3. Alive and Well

Blaine had the intention of evading Cooper as quickly as possible after Kurt left, but he didn’t even make it off of the front door mat before his brother stopped him in his tracks. He stood facing Blaine, arms crossed over his chest, head tilted to the side and eyebrows raised suspiciously.

Blaine had always found it amusing to see someone shrink under this stare of Cooper’s, but now…not so much. “Oh hey, Coop,” Blaine eyed the door to his right that lead down the hallway and to his bedroom. “So, I’m just gonna…” Blaine darted for the door but only got one step through when he was pulled back by his suspenders.

“Ahhh, Cooper!”

His brother just laughed. “Nice try, squirt.” He pulled Blaine into the lounge room at sat him down on the couch, sitting down beside him only seconds later. “Okay, explain.”

Under Cooper’s stare, Blaine fidgeted. “Er, I don’t know what yo-“

“Seriously, you’re going to try that one with me?”

Blaine sighed, letting his shoulders slump into the couch. “Ugh, fine. Explain what?”

“You know, if there was such thing as a stubborn award, you would win hands down.” Cooper complained, prodding Blaine in the ribs and causing him to jerk further away.

Blaine pulled a face and kicked his foot up to meet Cooper’s knee. “Tell me, what was all that about?”

Silence fell over them for a moment and Cooper studied Blaine’s expression. He watched as Blaine’s eyes furrowed in pain and anger, his lips scrunching slightly. Cooper was about to voice his concern for Blaine when he noticed the small quirk of his lips forming in the corners, followed by a smile so shy that Cooper could almost imagine that Blaine was five years old again and meeting new people for the first time, or found a new friend who meant the world to him.

Cooper thought that Kurt must have been someone very important to Blaine to be deserving of a smile like that. “He saved my life, Coop.”

Blaine told Cooper everything. Although they had mended their relationship over the past few years and they were practically inseparable now, Blaine had never told Cooper about Kurt. He had wanted to, he really had. He just hadn’t been able to bring himself to mention him. Blaine never imagined that he would ever see Kurt again, and although he didn’t ever want to forget about Kurt, telling Cooper about him was digging up memories that he would rather not dwell on. Now, however, with Kurt back in his life, he felt that he would be okay talking to Cooper.

When Blaine had told Cooper everything from his first English class, to the stories, to Kurt figuring out what was going on with Blaine, to helping him through his recovery, Cooper considered his brother for a moment.

He could see that Blaine held the image of Kurt on a pedestal, he admired him and was grateful for what Kurt had done for him, but there was something else there, something raw and so very apparent in Blaine’s eyes that there was no way Cooper could miss it.

“He was there for me so much, I honestly don’t know where I would be right now if it wasn’t for him.”

Cooper sighed, trying not to dwell on what Blaine had implied. “It was more than that though, wasn’t it?”

Blaine’s head snapped up from where he had it bowed as he examined his fingers. “Wh-what?”

“You liked him, didn’t you?”

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. If Cooper took a picture of how he saw Blaine right now, there would be no question about it. Blaine didn’t need words; the expression his face held was answer enough. He had a glint in his eyes, the type that is only visible in those very special moments. Though it was obvious that he was trying his hardest to not let it show, Cooper didn’t miss the slight quirk of Blaine’s lips.

In the short time that Cooper had known Kurt, he understood why his brother had developed feelings for the older man. He was likeable and the type of person that Cooper had always pictured Blaine finding. Though, Cooper was worried that Blaine was going to get hurt now that Kurt was going to be around a lot. “No, Coop. Honestly, I will be fine.”

“Blaine, you can’t control how you feel.”

“I’ve moved on from that part of my life,” Blaine insisted, knowing that Cooper would just keep going if he didn’t, “Besides, I doubt we will see each other very much.”

\---

If there was one thing that Kurt had learned over the years, it was that when one organised plans with Finn, they rarely went the way they were meant to. In fact, they actually _never_ went the way that they were meant to. On most occasions, their plans usually changed because Finn had found himself confused by some detail and double booked a certain date or person, and on a number of occasions, Finn had actually forgotten to show up for a booking he had made himself. Naturally, Kurt made sure he was the one to do any planning in the future; if Finn had no say, then surely nothing could go wrong.

Evidently, that theory was flawed before it even began.

Kurt was currently sitting at the dinner table across from Finn – instead of at the restaurant that Kurt had booked – who was sitting next to Rachel. For reasons that Kurt wasn’t even going to try to understand, they had also invited Burt and Carol over while they were here in Los Angeles for vacation, even though they were here the night before, and the night before that. He could go on.

If anyone noticed Kurt’s attention slipping away from the conversation they didn’t mention it. He tried to participate, but his mind kept drifting back to that afternoon. He had always wondered how Blaine was coping since he saw him at the hospital, but he had never been able to find out. The system didn’t work that way. That’s not to say he didn’t try. A couple of weeks after Blaine was admitted into the psychiatric hospital, Kurt attempted to find him, to check up on his condition.

No one could give him any answers. After six months of trying, Burt eventually convinced him that it was time to let go.

Seeing Blaine today was indescribable. Kurt had spent the whole time holding himself together just for the fact that Blaine was _there_ in front of him and _alive_. He knew Blaine was stronger than he gave himself credit for and had every faith in the boy that Blaine would find a way out of the dark place he had been in, but just seeing that come true; Kurt couldn’t even explain it.

“Kurt!”

He looked up and was met with four pairs of eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Sorry, just thinking. What did I miss?”

Rachel Berry was pregnant.

Well, that was…unexpected.

Kurt was happy for them, of course he was. He beamed a huge smile across the table at Rachel, eyes lit up an excited. He even leant over to bump his fist with Finn’s – there were some things that he had adjusted to since having a brother and he could cope with the occasional fist bump if it made Finn smile like that.

He was happy, but it was also a painful reminder that he was twenty-seven and still single while his brother and best friend were married and now having children. It wasn’t as if Kurt had never had a boyfriend before. He had dated a couple of guys in college and two in the past four years. His longest relationship had been for a year and a half, but that had ended when both he and Erik felt that they worked better as friends.

Kurt found himself zoning out three more times during dinner before Burt told him to go home and get to bed because he looked like he had seen a ghost. Kurt wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry at the irony of the statement. He opted for neither and gathered his bag and coat from the hook in the hallway.

He gave Rachel and Finn each a long hug and congratulations before giving Carol a kiss goodbye. Burt walked him out to his car and Kurt just knew there was a lecture coming his way soon so he purposely walked a little slower alongside Rachel’s perfectly manicured garden. “You okay there Ku-“

“Do you remember Blaine?” Kurt turned around to face Burt whose face was furrowed in confusion as he tried to wrap his head around the sudden interruption.

“Yeah, he’s the kid from Dalton, right?”

Kurt nodded, “Right.” He turned away, running a hand through his hair and then leant his back against his car.

“Did something happen, is he-“

Given the strange mood his son was in right now, Burt was not surprised by his constant interruptions. “I saw him today,” Kurt lifted his head to look at Burt who knew just how important that was to Kurt, to just have seen Blaine, “He’s happy. He’s really, really happy and healthy.”

If there was one thing that Burt knew about his son more than anything, it was that he had a heart made of gold; pure, caring and selfless gold. Kurt always put others first and had such a compassionate heart that Burt knew that this meant so much more to Kurt than helping someone in need. Kurt knew, deep down, that Blaine surviving this was partly because of him, though he would never admit that to anyone.

“Dad, he’s _alive_.”


	4. Er, Baby?

A week after the family dinner, Kurt found himself back in a meeting with Cooper, though this time Cooper had brought along a producer that he had worked with in a previous movie. The producer, Samuel, was explaining to Kurt the process of putting together a team that Kurt could work with, which could be organised in the next couple of weeks. 

Blaine had come home about an hour ago, but he drifted off to his room not long after putting the shopping away in the kitchen cupboards and talking briefly with Kurt.

Cooper left Kurt and Samuel to discuss further details regarding the crew at the table and wandered down the hallway to Blaine’s room at the far end. He had noticed that Blaine hadn’t come back out since he came home, which – considering Blaine didn’t usually last longer than ten minutes without coming out for food – was unusual.

As Cooper approached Blaine’s door, which had been left ajar, he could hear a faint sound coming from inside. Stepping closer, Cooper tilted his head to see the glow of Blaine’s iPod playing in its dock. He stopped and stared for a moment, eyes darting between Blaine – who was lying on his back on his bed, book held above him – and the music. Had it been anyone else, Cooper would not have batted an eye, but hearing music from Blaine’s room was like hearing for the first time after living for years hearing absolutely nothing. 

When growing up, Cooper always knew his brother was going to be musical. He knew that he had talent, even at a young age, and imagined that he would be seeing him on the charts when he was old enough. However, two and a half years ago, Cooper’s hopes for his brother had been severely crushed. Blaine had not touched music in the past four years. Even though he was a music composition major, he never listened to anything, sung anything or played anything. The only music that Blaine connected himself to were the lyrics and chords on the pages of many notebooks he had kept over the years. Cooper still couldn’t understand how Blaine managed to write music without playing it.

Cooper stepped through Blaine’s door. “Squirt, I was beginning to think you had finally learnt to sapprate,” he said, voice thick.

“It’s _disapparate_ ,” Blaine sighed, turning over onto his stomach, “and I haven’t quite mastered that particular spell yet, my clothes keep getting splinched.”

Cooper chuckled, not even understanding what on earth Blaine was on about, but that was nothing out of the ordinary, on countless occasions Blaine would talk Cooper’s ear off about _something_ that made no sense. Cooper blamed all those books his brother was so attached to. 

“Uh-huh, so do you want food? I was going to order lunch.”

Blaine suggested they order from the bakery down the road – he wanted one of their roasted chicken, avocado, pesto and aioli bagels – then rolled back onto his back and requested that Cooper call him when it was ready and he would walk down to pick up the order.

Cooper may be dumb most of the time, he wasn’t always one to perceive someone else’s moods, emotions or reasons for doing things, but if there was one person in the world that he could see right through, it was his brother. He knew Blaine was avoiding being out in the same room as Kurt.

Letting Blaine’s strange behaviour go this once, Cooper went back out to the table where Kurt and Samuel were still discussing some technical aspect of the film process that went right over Cooper’s head. He got their orders from them and phoned the bakery.

“Blaine!”

When Blaine got back from the bakery, Cooper saw him trying to sneak off back to his room but promptly stopped him before he set a foot out of the dining room. Blaine reluctantly sat down at the table after Cooper and refrained from shooting his brother a glare for leaving the seat beside Kurt free.

Samuel ate his lunch rather quickly and left shortly after, needing to meet with some potential crew members for Kurt and agreed to meet when he had put together a decent team. He was also searching for a casting director to assist Kurt for the remaining roles.

Half way through their lunch, Cooper’s phone went off. “Hello.” He picked it up and ducked down the hallway for a couple of minutes. When he came back in, he looked apologetically at Kurt, who still had most of his lunch sitting in front of him.

“That was Charlotte, she wants me to pick James up from day care,” Cooper picked up his keys from the bowl on the little shelf that was pushed up against the wall then turned back to Kurt, “I won’t be long if you want to stick around, otherwise we can meet again in the week?”

“Oh, is James…”

“My son, yeah,” Cooper grinned broadly, looking proud, “he’s only nine months.”

Kurt smiled back. The soft change in Cooper was unexpected. “Oh, I’ll just finish my lunch and head home, we can meet again another day.”

Cooper confirmed if that was okay with Kurt who insisted that he spend the afternoon with his son. After he left, it was just Kurt and Blaine seated at the dining table, eating their lunch.

“Umm, how is your…er, your film…how is it going?” Blaine mentally cursed himself for sound like such an inarticulate idiot, but Kurt’s casual tone and how he didn’t even skip a beat prevented him from blushing.

Kurt smiled. “Great so far, we should have a team together in the next few weeks and hopefully in that time your brother and I will find a cast.”

They fell into silence for a moment as they ate, then Kurt turned his eyes on Blaine. “So Blaine, what’s news with you?”

“Psh, you know enough about me, shouldn’t I be asking you stuff?”

“Well, ask away,” Kurt waved his hand, giving Blaine the floor, “what do you want to know?”

Blaine spent the next twenty minutes asking Kurt every question he could think of; from where Kurt grew up, to his family, school, college and the last four years. Kurt found himself telling Blaine everything, answering every question without a second thought, which almost stopped him in his tracks when he realised that he had never spoken so easily or openly to anyone before.

He told Blaine about growing up in Ohio, only briefly skimming over his high school ordeals as that was a touchy subject for both of them, Blaine in particular. He told Blaine about his father, Carol and Finn, which ended with them both laughing uncontrollably when Kurt explained his crush from sophomore year, only to end up as brothers in their junior year. 

Composing themselves failed miserably and after a while they were just staring at each other, both of them vibrating with silent giggles, their lips threatening to pull into wide grins. Blaine looked away first and started to ask a question, but thought it would be inappropriate; Kurt had been his teacher, after all. His hesitation didn’t go unmissed by Kurt. “What is it?”

“Uhh, no nothing…”

Kurt levelled Blaine with a _yeah right_ stare, “Blaine, I said to ask what you want.”

“O-okay,” Blaine smiled nervously, “Er, what about your family, your _own_ family?”

Kurt sighed, “Sorry to be boring, but there’s nothing to tell there.”

“Oh, sorry umm. Okay well…” Blaine trailed off, not knowing what to say. 

Kurt chuckled, “Blaine, you don’t have to be sorry. I’m only twenty-seven, I have my whole life to live still,” Kurt paused then asked softly, “How about you?”

“N-no,” Blaine choked lightly, “No, I’m not with anyone.”

\---

Cooper came home half an hour later while Kurt was still there. He found the boys laughing at something that Cooper didn’t hear, he only caught the tail end of Kurt’s voice before Blaine’s laughter travelled through the hallway.

He bustled into the house, stopping in the door way of the lounge room where the boys must have moved to after he left. He introduced Kurt to James, leaving his nephew in Blaine’s arms while he dragged the many bags he had brought in with off to his room. 

Blaine was cradling James in his arms when there was a crash in the distance of Cooper’s room. “Blaine!!!”

Before Kurt could protest, Blaine had passed James over to him and settled the tiny boy in Kurt’s arms. He dashed off down the hallway to help Cooper while Kurt looked around in panic and glanced down at James. “Umm, Blaine…”

Kurt wasn’t one of those people who hated children or babies, but he has very little experience with them, so suddenly being handed a bundle of blankets that could at any moment cry itself blue was very daunting.

“Okay, breathe. It’s a baby, just a baby. Yeah, nothing bad about babies.” Kurt grinned stupidly at James, attempting to act like any adult he has ever seen interact with a child. He mentally punched the air in triumph when James stared back at him in awe. 

His moment of elation was short lived when James’ lip began to quiver. “Wait, no. Shh. That’s not good. No, shh shh. Don’t cry, don’t cry.”

With his free hand, Kurt made little puppet shapes and tried to distract James, but he only opened his mouth to wail loudly. “Er, Blaine? Cooper?”

Blaine appeared around the corner a few moments after Kurt had called out. “Aww, what happened?”

“I’m sorry I don’t know one minute he was staring at me and being all cute and looking at me with these really big eyes and next his lips trembled and I didn’t know wha-“

“Kurt!” Blaine had to almost yell to stop his panicked ramble. “Calm down, it’s fine.”

Blaine took James in his arms and gently started rocking him, making little ‘ _shh_ ’ noises that slowly had James calming down enough for Blaine to sit back on the sofa next to Kurt who had sagged into it in relief. “Do you not do well with kids?”

“So it seems,” Kurt chuckled, “I’ve actually never really been around kids much, which babies can probably tell. You know, sense your fear and all.”

Blaine laughed, but he frowned a little at the meaning behind Kurt’s words. He wandered if Kurt was someone who didn’t actually want kids.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love kids and will have them if I can, but I am definitely going to be a learning-on-the-go type of father when I am one,” Kurt leant over to place his gingers on James’ hand, “You, on the other hand, look like a natural.”

If the sight of Kurt holding James before hadn’t put a certain image into Blaine’s mind, then Kurt’s words certainly did. 

Blaine was definitely not mentioning to Cooper that maybe he had been just a tiny bit close to right when he said he was worried about Blaine getting close to Kurt.

He was also never admitting that Cooper was right in saying that you cannot control your feelings.


	5. Is It Attraction?

A few days after Kurt’s traumatic experience dealing with a crying baby, he organised a day to meet with Rachel. He had heard that being pregnant tended to cause hormonal rollercoasters and decided he wanted to catch up with Rachel as much as he could before that time came. Don’t get him wrong, he loved Rachel and her personality, there wasn’t a thing he would change about her – well, apart from those horrible animal sweaters and plaid skirts – but he wasn’t looking forward to a hormonal Rachel Berry.

He arranged to meet her for breakfast at a local café that he had found while out on a walk one morning. The bagels they made were the nicest that Kurt had ever tasted and their mochas were a godsend. Meeting for breakfast allowed Kurt the excuse to stay a while longer at the café and work on editing his script while he ordered another mocha, or maybe two.

Rachel loved trying new cafes and was disappointed that she didn’t get to stay too long as she had to get to work, but spending the morning with Kurt always put a smile on her face, so she couldn’t complain.

They finished up their breakfast with promises to do the same thing again more often before Rachel’s life became a mess of a pregnant belly and baby plans. Rachel left Kurt with a kiss to his cheek and her usual ramble-until-she-is-out-the-door exit, leaving Kurt to finish his mocha before he pulled out his script to edit.

Kurt had just uncapped his red pen when the bell above the door to the café jingled, notifying the staff of a new customer. Kurt marked a few corrections on his page, altering a few lines of dialogue to enhance the scenes.

“Excuse me sir, is this seat taken?” Kurt glanced up to see Blaine grinning widely down at him.

“Blaine!” Kurt coughed, dulling the pitch in his voice that had just rose embarrassingly high. “Yes, no um, I mean…you can, you…” Kurt sighed and ran his hand over his forehead, “take a seat, Blaine.”

Blaine chuckled lightly, raising his eyebrows at Kurt’s inarticulate invitation to sit with him. He draped his jacket over the back of his chair then fell into the seat opposite Kurt. They made light conversation for a couple of minutes. Blaine asked Kurt about his script and the progress he was making while Kurt followed up on how Blaine’s classes had been going.

Kurt was in the middle of telling Blaine about a girl in his Friday morning English class that had started a fight with another girl over something pathetic when he noticed that Blaine was fidgeting a little. He ignored it for a moment but when Blaine started to run his hand uncomfortably under the collar of his shirt, Kurt spoke up.

“Are you okay?”

Blaine’s eyes widened and snapped to Kurt’s, his hand dropping from his neck at the same time. “Oh, umm yeah it’s just my bowtie, I haven’t worn one in so long.”

Kurt had noticed the bowtie the minute he saw Blaine and thought that the look suited him. In fact, it looked so _Blaine_ that he didn’t really give it a second thought, other than it looked cute and he should wear them more often.

Blaine choked on his coffee. Kurt couldn’t decide if Blaine was laughing, actually choking or slightly embarrassed. He settled on all of them just as Blaine recovered and a bright blush crept over his cheeks. “Umm, thanks.”

It took a few seconds for Kurt to realise.

He just told Blaine that he looked cute in bowties.

And he should wear them more often.

Oh.

* * *

Blaine had a day off from classes, so he decided to get away from all of his books and the house. He wandered around the park that was across the road from his and Cooper’s for a while until his stomach demanded his attention. He had eaten a pastry that he really liked at the café down the road yesterday, so he decided to walk down there to eat instead of going back home.

He orders and finds a seat straight away because it’s really quiet at the moment. Sometimes, Blaine’s constant need for food had always been irritating when he was in a place where he couldn’t get to food, but when it came to the times that he ate, it was perfect because he was always able to find a seat.

It was unfortunate for the lunch time rush though that swamped into the café half an hour after Blaine did. The seats filled up quickly as more and more customers filed in. People watching in cafés was always a favourite past-time of Blaine’s, so he occupied himself with watching who came in and stayed to eat, who rushed in and back out of the café – usually business men – and the ones who brought in work to read over or laptops to tap away on.

Blaine was appreciating the view of a cobalt blue suit when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. It was Sebastian: **Are you free tonight? I need someone to talk to.**

Blaine’s stomach fell. It was never a good sign when Sebastian needed someone to talk to. It was very rare if Sebastian ever needed comforting or advice and he didn’t like to think that Sebastian was upset. Quite often, Sebastian used that line just so he could see Blaine. Ever since they had finally seen each other once Blaine got out of hospital, Sebastian had formed an attachment to Blaine. He hopes that’s the only reason, but his gut instinct tells him it’s something else so he replies with: **Yeah of course, I’m free all day. Just come over whenever.**

He had just hit send when the scrape of the chair in front of him jolted his attention away from his phone. “Blaine?”

He looked up to see Kurt peering at him curiously. “Hi, Kurt!” Blaine fumbled his phone a little and just let it fall onto the table. “Hey, hi, umm…do you want to sit?”

Kurt chuckled lightly and raised his eyebrows at Blaine. He draped his jacket over the chair before sitting down. If either of them noticed the strange sense of de ja vu in their routine, they didn’t say anything. Though Kurt did mention the previous day. “Twice in as many days, are you stalking me Anderson?”

Blaine laughed, but it sounded forced.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, one of my friends, he’s going through a hard time.”

Kurt gave a sad smile and asked “Do you need time to talk or…?” He half rose from his seat as if making to leave.

“No!” Blaine sighed, “Sorry, umm it’s okay, you can stay. I’m seeing him tonight.”

“Oh, good. That’s, yeah good,” Kurt cleared his throat.

Sensing the awkwardness, Blaine elaborated a little. “Do you remember Sebastian?”

Kurt would never forget Sebastian. The look of complete and utter terror that had been written all over the boy’s face when Kurt had carried Blaine, unconscious and dripping with blood, out of his dorm room was not an image Kurt would ever forget.

Judging by the look on Blaine’s face, he knew what Kurt was thinking, so Kurt quickly lightened the mood as best he could. “Of course, how could I forget your boyfriend that you were _so_ in love with?”

Blaine burst into a fit of mortified giggles. “Oh god, no! That was horrible.”

“Horrible?” Kurt asked in mock disbelief, “It looked quite cute from where I was standing.”

A disgusted noise sounded from Blaine, followed by a long string of complaints about the whole _‘boyfriend_ ’ act that he was just _forced_ into and it was _so_ unrealistic and as if he and _Sebastian_ would _ever_ be together and as if Sebastian would _ever_ date _him._ He complained some more, but Kurt let him go, amused that after four years Blaine was still reacting that same way he had when he had to hold Sebastian’s hand.

Blaine finished his rambling long enough to take a breath and was ready to continue, but Kurt cut him off. “You don’t think Sebastian would want to date you?”

The question caught Blaine off guard. He spluttered a little and wasn’t quick enough to think up an answer other than; “N-no, he wouldn’t…not me.”

“Aww, come on,” Kurt leant forward in his chair, leaning his elbows on the table, “You’re a nice guy, you’re charming. Not to mention handsome, what’s not to like?”

Blaine just stared. In slight shock, which Kurt must have misinterpreted as horror at the idea of him and Sebastian as a couple because he held his hands up in surrender and said “Whoa, okay. You and Sebastian, never going to happen.”

Still not recovered, Blaine just slowly turned his head side to side in a definite no, but he was actually screaming internally because Kurt had just called him _handsome_.

* * *

Blaine walked home in a daze after he and Kurt had finished their lunch and coffee. He had the intention of just going straight to his room when he got back, but Cooper – being the annoying barrier like always – stopped him before he left the foyer. “What are you so cheerful about?”

“It’s a nice day.” Blaine grinned, knowing perfectly well that Cooper could see right through him, but not caring in the slightest. He picked his step up again and side-stepped Cooper before he _walked_ – he will forever deny any skipping – to his room.

Cooper stared after his brother and was sure he heard a very quiet humming noise coming from Blaine’s direction. He must have imagined it because the only sound Blaine ever makes is when he talks, there is no way that Blaine was humming. Cooper shakes his head. Definitely imagined it.

* * *

“Hey, Kurt.” Rachel exclaimed enthusiastically when she opened her front door. “This is a lovely surprise, what are y-“

“Can I talk to you?”

Rachel had Kurt in the lounge room, on the couch with a cup of tea in his hands within a couple of minutes. She turned her attention to him to show that she was listening. “What’s going on?”

Kurt relayed the last two days back to Rachel. How he bumped into Blaine on both days and how they had eaten lunch together and talked over coffees. Rachel followed every word of Kurt’s endless sentences that left him breathless without interruption, letting him finish and get everything out before she asked him what was bothering him. Kurt was in the middle of a particularly long sentence about someone named Sebastian when he ran out of air and just trailed off. He slumped his head into the crook of his arm that was resting on the back of the couch. Thankfully, Rachel had taken his cup of tea away and placed in on the coffee table while he was talking.

Rachel watched him for a moment before asking “So, what’s wrong?”

“Were you not listening?” Kurt glared at her, “I called him cute, Rachel. _Cute_. And Handsome.”

Rachel honestly didn’t see why this was an issue and just smiled. “Is he cute and handsome?”

Kurt suddenly found the blanket on the back of the couch very interesting and mumbled a response. “Yes,” his voice rose back up again, “but that is irrelevant to my crisis here.”

“Kurt, I honestly don’t get why you’re freaking out about this. You called a guy cute and handsome who is _actually_ cute and handsome. What is wrong with that?”

He grabbed his face with both hands. “Because, he was my student. That has got to be inappropriate on so many levels.”

“He was your student _four years ago_ , it’s not inappropriate. Besides, it’s not like oh my god!”

Kurt jumped at her squeal. “What?!”

“You’re attracted to him, aren’t you?”

The groan she received in response told her everything she needed to know.

Kurt just buried his face in his arms and refused to look up, only giving Rachel a muffled attempt at any further conversation. “What do I do?”

“What do you mean _what do I do?_ Kurt, you’re attracted to him, just be you and forget that he was Blaine, your student at Dalton, just think of him as the handsome guy you met in LA.”

“I don’t know,” Kurt had finally looked up, “I mean, I’m twenty-seven and he’s twenty-two.”

Rachel scoffed. “Like that even matters.”

The smile she got in response was nothing less than smitten.

 


	6. Your Touch

Kurt slumped onto the table. He was exhausted. Over the past two months he and Cooper had met with their editor, Ashley, their casting director, Oliver, and Samuel, their producer more times than he could count on his fingers and toes. Their work had paid off though. They were almost ready to start filming.

His script was complete. Edited and finalised. Cooper had been through audition after audition to try to find the perfect co-star and Oliver had done more than meet the mark when he found Alison to play opposite Cooper.

The exhaustion had effected both of them, but mainly because Cooper had to be around for James as Charlotte worked long shifts at the hospital, but that meant Kurt had to meet at the Anderson’s most afternoons when he and Cooper were free from work. It didn’t bother Kurt; he only had morning classes to teach every day and could go straight to Cooper’s after work, but he usually ended up staying way too late and getting far too tired for work the next day.

He and Cooper often finished up early evening at about five o’clock, but Blaine finished his classes in the afternoon and came home at the same time they were finishing up. After about a week, Kurt and Blaine had fallen into a pattern. Kurt and Cooper finished and cleaned up all their notes from their meetings just as Blaine came home and started a conversation with Kurt. They would just talk for a while until Blaine’s need for food became too much and Kurt would leave them to have their dinner. But, that only lasted a short period of time as Kurt soon found himself joining them for dinner, which turned into drinks, which then lead to movies that they didn’t even watch most of the time, both too busy talking to pay any attention.

Kurt and Blaine became fast friends and now, two months later, it was only natural for Kurt to call Blaine up to ask him if he was free to meet for coffee, or for Kurt to stay for dinner without actually being asked anymore, instead just following a pattern that they didn’t even know they had.

Spending time with Blaine had become somewhat of a necessity for Kurt. On days such as the one he was having now – exhausted, stressed and to the point of wanting to switch himself off – he turned to Blaine for a distraction, which is exactly what he decided to do.

He picked up his phone and opened a message to Blaine.

\---

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Blaine groaned into his pillow. Who the hell thought it that texting this early was a good idea? Whoever it was could wait; Blaine wasn’t even awake enough to movie let alone attempt to read a message. He snuggled closer into his comforter, ignoring his phone. If they were desperate, they would ring.

“ _You think I’m pretty, without any make-up on...”_

He thought too soon.

“… _You think I’m funny when I tell the punch line wrong…”_

Grumbling and urging his muscles to move, Blaine lifted himself onto his side. The light of his phone forced his eyes closed when he picked it up.

“… _I know you get me, so I let my walls come down, down.”_

He squinted across the brightness and slid his finger across the screen to answer it.

“Lo?”

“Hey Blaine!” A cheery voice floated through the phone and Blaine winced at the sudden intrusion on his ear drums.

“Mmm, ey.”

“Oh, did I wake you?”

Blaine ‘ _mmhmmed’_ in response, not even registering what the person was really saying on the other end of the line.

“Sorry, I’ll be quick,” the voice chuckled and didn’t really sound sorry at all, “I was just ringing to tell you that I’m going to a barbeque lunch at Finn and Rachel’s, do you want to come?”

It was Kurt. Blaine was awake. He sat up straight in bed, eyes open and mind focussed. He cleared his throat, “Yes!” He mentally smacked himself for sounding so eager, “Er, sure yeah that’s be good.”

“Great, well I’ll let you go, just text me when you’re ready and I’ll come pick you up, I’m just down the road.”

Blaine went to answer, but a yawn stopped his words. “Sorry, yeah I’ll text you.”

“Don’t you fall asleep mister, it’s already after nine.”

Oh, it wasn’t actually early. “Yes sir!”

“Very funny.”

After hanging up the phone, Blaine scurried out of bed and into the bathroom, quickly jumping into the shower. Blaine had never really been one to worry about his appearance and the clothes he wore, but over the past two months he had been spending a lot of time with Kurt. Spending a lot of time with Kurt, who dressed impeccably well even when he was only at home, encouraged Blaine to actually put an effort into his appearance.

Blaine pulled out his dark jeans, a pink button down and his navy and white striped cardigan. Satisfied with his choice, Blaine put on his shoes and walked out of his room. He halted in front of the glass cabinet at his door. He stared at his large collection of bowties and hats that he owned, definitely not forgetting Kurt telling him he should wear bowties more often, but the pink hat on the left that he had bought last week while out shopping with Kurt caught his eye.

Kurt had insisted that he buy it, claiming that it would go perfectly with the outfit he was currently wearing. Of course, Blaine had taken one glance at the pleading look on Kurt’s and couldn’t resist the purchase. He picked up the hat and did one last check in the mirror before texting Kurt to tell him that he was ready.

The car ride over to Finn and Rachel’s was quiet, but not an uncomfortable and awkward silence. While he waited for Blaine to come outside, Kurt fiddled with his radio until he found a station that he thought Blaine would like, though Kurt had never really seen or heard Blaine listen to music. He figured he had chosen well when he heard Blaine humming softly along with one of _Katy Perry’s_ new songs.

It took Kurt a second to realise that this was the first time he had heard Blaine’s voice since high school and that simultaneously caused his lips to break into a bright, happy grin and a tear to fall from his eye.

They pulled up to the house a little before lunch time and when they got out of the car, Kurt acknowledged Blaine’s whole outfit. He smiled when he noticed that Blaine was wearing the same hat that Kurt had practically forced him to buy.

When they got to the front door, Blaine insisted that they ring the doorbell, which Kurt was going to complain about since he usually just walked in to his brother’s house, but the look in Blaine’s eyes compelled him to press the button. He has to admit it, the smile he receives is worth the wait.

Rachel opens the door in a flurry of words and fast movements. Before Kurt and Blaine can really utter a single “hello”, Rachel is already walking away – rapidly – leaving the two of them to let themselves in. Kurt stepped to the side and held the wire door open for Blaine. “After you, kind sir.”

Blaine chuckled, “Why thank-you,” he turned his head to glance back at Kurt, “Care to show me in?”

“But of course,” Kurt stepped inside after Blaine and stood next to him, “Right this way.” Kurt linked his arm through Blaine’s, guiding him through the house until they got to the back door that leads out to the barbeque area.

Once outside, conversation with Rachel and Kurt flared instantly, while Blaine and Finn recapped the game that was on the night before. They talked in their pairs for a while until they all came into one conversation where Blaine noticed the strange glances that Rachel kept directing at him. She was staring at Kurt’s arm. It was still resting on Blaine’s lower back.

A shiver went down Blaine’s spine when he realised that Kurt hadn’t removed his arm since they arrived, which must have been felt by Kurt because in that instant he pulled his arm away before asking Blaine if he was comfortable.

Blaine helped Finn with the barbeque while Kurt wondered off into the kitchen with Rachel to prepare the salads. They had barely even set foot onto the tiled floor when Rachel had Kurt cornered. “What was that?!”

“What was what?” Kurt cowered away from her accusing glare.

She scoffed. “Don’t play dumb, Kurt,” she pointed her finger at him, “Why haven’t you asked him out yet?”

“Rachel…” Kurt sighed, “We’ve been through this.”

It really was getting old. Rachel had been on his case ever since he had admitted to being attracted to Blaine, but it wasn’t as easy as Rachel liked to think. For one, Kurt didn’t even know if Blaine was interested in him, let alone if he was even ready for a relationship. “Do you really doubt that he likes you that much?”

Kurt groaned. She was never going to let this go. “I don’t know, Rachel...”

“Look, Kurt all I’m saying_

“I know what you’re saying, but can we-just can we not talk about this?”

Rachel looked like she was going to argue, but after a moment of staring she huffed and pulled out the salads.

Ten minutes later, lunch was ready and on the table. They had put everything in bowls and trays so they were able to just help themselves to what they wanted. Kurt reached for the tray of meat that he knew was Blaine’s favourite and picked up the tongs to take a piece and put it on Blaine’s plate. He did the same with a few other things he knew Blaine liked and was almost finished piling up the plate when Blaine came back outside after washing his hands.

“Oh Kurt, you didn’t have to do that,” Blaine sat down in the seat beside Kurt and if he noticed that it was placed much closer to Kurt’s than before he didn’t say anything, “Thank-you.”

A couple of times while they’re eating, Blaine notices Rachel looking at Kurt with a little concern, but then her eyes flicker back to Blaine and she smiles a little. Blaine frowns in confusion but Finn strikes a conversation with him so he’s distracted from wondering what was going on and by the time they’re all talking together again, Blaine has forgotten completely.

Throughout the afternoon, Blaine attempts to ignore the heat he feels on his skin each time Kurt touches him, which seems to be occurring more often than not. In the middle of retelling a story about Blaine, Kurt rests his hand on Blaine’s arm, just casually sitting it there. It would have been easy for Blaine to focus on something else had Kurt not left his hand there, made even worse when Kurt’s thumb started to brush back and forth on the fabric of his shirt.

Blaine hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation since Kurt’s hand touched his arm, but Finn talking pulled him out of his daze. “So Kurt, who er, who was that guy I saw you with last week?”

Kurt’s hand stilled on Blaine’s arm and slowing moved away. Blaine tried to school his expression, hoping he looked casual and not bothered by Finn’s question. Kurt, on the other hand, had never wanted to kick his brother more. “Erm, that was Mitch, he’s a teacher at school.”

The topic was changed rather quickly.

Somehow, probably after Blaine’s dapper insistence, Kurt and Blaine end up in the kitchen to wash the dishes. They were halfway through, Blaine was washing while Kurt dried, when Blaine’s hat started to fall off. He attempted to straighten it with his wrist but it just tipped the other way so he huffed and went to reach for the other towel.

Kurt caught the hat in his hands, “Here, let me.”

Blaine turned to face Kurt as he lowered the hat onto his head. Blaine expected Kurt to just let go and go back to drying, but he kept his hands on the hat as his eyes darted over Blaine’s outfit again. “You know, your bowties may be cute, but this,” he tapped his fingers, “is very dapper.”

Kurt’s eyes settled on Blaine’s. They were both staring, neither one of them moving until Kurt began to lean forward.

A bang from the back room jolted them apart.

Finn had walked into the door. Of course.

\---

Kurt and Blaine said their goodbyes to Finn and Rachel, with Finn demanding that Blaine come more often so he had someone to talk sports with. They made it back to Blaine’s house by five o’clock and Kurt said he needed to talk to Cooper about something regarding a scene change, so he came inside instead of just dropping Blaine off.

Cooper wasn’t home, but there was a note left to Blaine on the table telling him that he should be home by six. “You can stay and wait, if you want.”

“Umm, sure. Yeah, I can wait.”

Blaine looked around a little awkwardly before mentally slapping himself. He and Kurt have never been awkward like this with each other, no need to start now. “Do you want to watch a movie?”

They decide on _Tangled_ and five minutes later they’re both comfortable on the couch, but not really watching the movie. They talk, even though they have been talking all day, but soon the conversation drops off to almost nothing until they’re both too tired to continue it. It wasn’t even six o’clock yet, but they were exhausted.

The front door opened at quarter passed six. Charlotte came in first, carrying James, while Cooped trailed in behind them. Charlotte stopped at the lounge room and smiled when she saw Blaine curled up on the couch, sound asleep. Since the day Cooper had brought Blaine back home, Charlotte had felt that Blaine was like a son to her, or a very close but younger brother. Whatever the comparison, Charlotte and Blaine had become very close.

Cooper walked passed her and she started following him into the hallway, but then something caught her eye and she stopped. Unless Blaine had grown since she saw him the night before, then those legs definitely were not his. “Psst, Cooper.”

He turned back around and stood next to her in the doorway then followed her line of sight. It was hard to tell in the dark light, but he could see Blaine on the couch, curled up and sound asleep. He smiled and was about to turn away to go to the kitchen when the television illuminated the room with a bright light and he could clearly see that Blaine was not alone.

Kurt was curled up on the couch beside him.

Kurt’s back was against the couch and he was facing the television, while Blaine had his back pressed to Kurt’s chest. One of Kurt’s arms was wrapped over Blaine’s waist and was covered by Blaine’s own arms that were hugging Kurt’s to his chest.

Cooper and Charlotte silently crept away.

They missed Kurt pulling Blaine in closer to his chest.

\---

Cooper hadn’t had the heart to wake Blaine and Kurt up after seeing them snuggled so comfortably together on the couch, so he left them there to wake up on their own. Blaine stumbled out into the kitchen a little after ten to get a drink and find something to eat, Kurt following shortly after.

They ate some left over pasta before Blaine decided to actually go to bed. He insisted that Kurt stay instead of driving home late, which was reasonable so Kurt eventually just gave in. Blaine showed him to the guest room before going to bed himself. Kurt came back out into the kitchen to get one last drink.

“Blaine told me about you and everything you did,” Cooper spoke out of the silence, “Thank-you.”

“Oh, I didn’t d-“

“Kurt, you don’t need to be modest.”

“No, I jus- All I did was respond to his cry for help, but the rest? That was all Blaine,” Kurt spoke with finality, not wanting someone to thank him for something that Blaine pulled through with his own strength and courage. Kurt hated to think that, if he hadn’t been there to help Blaine, then he would not have survived the way he did. Kurt couldn’t bring himself to accept that, so he continued to convince himself that it wasn’t because of him that Blaine was okay, even if he knew better.

“You may not even realise it, but you’re good for him, Kurt.”

Kurt tried to convince himself that the hopeful butterflies in his stomach were his imagination.


	7. Big Girls (Boys) Don't Cry

Kurt looked around him and smiled. Five months ago, this was not how he pictured his life to be like, but he wouldn’t trade it for anything. He would even keep Rachel who was far more hormonal and demanding that Kurt had ever seen, but he suspected that had something to do with being nineteen weeks pregnant.

Cooper, Finn and Blaine had been playing with a football for the past half an hour, in between tackles that turned into wrestle matches. Blaine was surprisingly strong for his size, which had baffled Finn to no end when Blaine had freed himself from Cooper’s grasp about ten minutes ago and ran off with the ball. Cooper and Finn were tall, but they weren’t nearly as fast as Blaine.

Rachel and Charlotte had been taking it in turns throughout the morning nursing James and feeding him when he needed it. They had tried to convince Kurt to hold him for a while, but finally gave up their nagging about the time when Blaine pulled away from Cooper’s arms, realising Kurt hadn’t even been paying attention to them.

Morning tea had long since been demolished, given that Finn, Cooper and Blaine were the first to dive upon the picnic basket that Charlotte had put together that morning specifically for snacks. They had been complaining since the second they finished the food that they were hungry, so Kurt had pulled out the football as a distraction.

Kurt rolled his eyes, bit his tongue and groaned more when he was with the people he was currently surrounded by than anyone else, but they were his family and there wasn’t a moment with them that he would trade, even the sad and heartbreaking ones, because they were what got them to where they were.

A grunt and a heavy weight jolted Kurt from his reverie. Blaine slumped down on the picnic rug, pressed against Kurt’s side. “We need food.”

Cooper and Finn followed as soon as the food came out and soon they all had a plate filled with meats and salads that Rachel and Charlotte had put together that morning.

Kurt felt a nudge in his side. “You gonna play later?”

“Me?” Kurt scoffed at Blaine, “One, I don’t do sports and two, there is no way my hair or my clothes are going near that game.”

Blaine pouted, “Aw come on, please?”

“I’m not going near a footfall.”

Finn chose that moment to tune into the conversation. “But, you were on the football team in high school.”

“No way!!” Blaine’s eyes went wide.

Kurt pressed his lips into a tight line then sighed. “It was just a game.”

“But, no wait,” Kurt really wanted to slap Finn, “You played a whole season, didn’t you?”

He threw his arms up. “Okay, I played a season of high school football.”

Blaine and Kurt fell into a short conversation about Kurt’s time as a kicker at McKinley High in his sophomore year. “Oh, you were a cheerleader too, weren’t you Kurt?”

If looks could kill, Rachel would surely be dead right now.

Somehow, Blaine had finally convinced Kurt to join in the game of, well he didn’t really know what they were playing, but the objective seemed easy enough; keep the ball away from Cooper and Finn.

Blaine had the ball at the moment, but his thirty seconds of being allowed to hold it was almost up – a rule made by Cooper in the previous round when Blaine had just held the ball for ten minutes before either he or Finn could get it off him.

He threw the ball into the air and over Finn and Cooper’s head to where Kurt was standing, ready to catch it. Blaine misjudged his shot, though and the ball ended up landing behind Kurt and rolling out onto the path. The other three boys pelted towards him all at once so Kurt turned on his heel and ran for the ball, only to collide with another body.

They both fell to the ground in a heap. Kurt felt the grass already staining his pants and the dirt mushing into his hands. He opened his mouth to yell a string of insults about how the person should watch where they ar-“Kurt!”

He looked up at the voice above him – and how it got up there so quickly he didn’t know – only to see Mitch grinning madly back down at him. “Mitch, hi!”

After picking Kurt up and giving him a quick brush off, Mitch turned to greet the three boys who had just skidded up next to them. “Guys, this is Mitch, he’s the music teacher at the high school.”

Kurt followed up with introductions on the others who proceeded to greet Mitch with a handshake each, Blaine’s a little stiffer than the others which didn’t go unnoticed by Mitch or Cooper. Kurt and Mitch fell into an easy conversation about the work they were doing at school, so Cooper and Finn grabbed the ball to resume their game. Cooper stopped when he noticed Blaine hadn’t moved and was still standing with Kurt, who was now laughing at something that Mitch had said.

Cooper didn’t like the frown that crept over Blaine’s face, but he understood exactly why it was there. Mitch was a touchy feely kind of person and at not one point in the conversation did he take his hand off Kurt. Cooper grabbed Blaine by the shoulders and steered him away from them, giving Blaine a tight squeeze when he looked up at his brother with sad, disheartened eyes.

Blaine didn’t last much longer in the next game. They were only five minutes in when he retreated back to sit with Rachel and Charlotte. He sat with his back to Kurt and Mitch, offering to take James off Charlotte’s hands – who was trying to keep James still – as a means of distraction. He sat James down on his lap to face him and played with his arms, grinning widely when James let out a small laugh. He was just over eleven months old now and they had all learnt the hard way that he likes to exercise his little legs. More than once Blaine had found himself being outsmarted by his nephew who could run rings around him almost literally, with a few trips and stumbles.

Caught in his own moment of distraction, Blaine had forgotten all about Kurt and Mitch until he glanced over to where James was excitedly pointing. Kurt and Mitch were still talking, but they were making their way over. They stopped and faced each other for a moment before Mitch stepped forward and pulled Kurt into a tight hug. Blaine looked down at James who was grinning widely at Kurt; he had developed a strange bond with Kurt, strange because Kurt hadn’t held him for over two months. He interacted with James, but not a great deal.

Kurt joined the group again and shot Rachel down with a glare before she could even utter a word. Charlotte on the other hand, she was innocent and Kurt got along well with her because she doesn’t badger him about Blaine like Rachel has done since the day he admitted to being attracted to him. Kurt was watching Blaine play with James and couldn’t help the smile that pulled at his lips.

“Oh my god, Finn!!” Rachel’s shrill voice drew everyone’s attention to her. She had her hand clutched to her stomach and her eyes were wide.

Finn came running over from his ball game with Cooper and dropped down beside Rachel, his hand automatically fitting itself beside her own. “What’s wron-“

His breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened in awe, “Oh wow,” Finn breathed out in a whisper, “that’s amazing.”

“She’s kicking,” Rachel beamed, motioning Kurt to come close, “Kurt you have to feel this, she’s kicking.”

Kurt nervously moved to sit beside Rachel, hesitating next to her, but with a lot of enthusiasm radiating off of her, she seemed to be able to encourage him to place his hand over the spot hers had just been. He gasped in surprise a few moments later when he felt a small flutter underneath his palm, it really was amazing.

Finn and Blaine had become very close during the time they had spent together, so Kurt wasn’t surprised when Finn encouraged Blaine to take his spot. After a couple of attempts at downright refusals to take this away from Finn, Blaine found himself sitting on the opposite side of Rachel that Kurt was on.

He placed his hand on Rachel’s stomach, focussing his eyes on his fingers rather than the eyes he could feel looking at him. Rachel watched the two boys with interest. Kurt was no longer staring at his hand, but was now staring at Blaine. She spotted the exact moment Blaine felt the kick. His eyes widened in fascination and he looked up in disbelief. He hadn’t meant it to happen, but his eyes met Kurt’s and he felt like he was frozen.

It wasn’t until Cooper came barrelling over for his own turn to feel the baby’s kicks that Blaine and Kurt looked away.

\---

Blaine hadn’t forgotten about Mitch, but at least he hadn’t thought about him in the couple off weeks that followed the picnic. Kurt never mentioned him and Cooper purposely avoided that topic, which Blaine was grateful for.

It hadn’t lasted long, not thinking of Mitch. Definitely not nearly as long enough as Blaine was hoping. Three weeks after their picnic Blaine was planning a surprise visit with Kurt. He knew Kurt had Thursdays off and he had no classes so wanted to make a day out it at and either eat in at Kurt’s or go somewhere for the day.

He got to Kurt’s at around eleven which gave them plenty of time to go somewhere if they wanted to without having lunch too late. Kurt answered the door in surprise, inviting Blaine in quickly and leading him into Kurt’s dining area. “So, I was thinking that since you had the day off and so do I, we could- oh, Mitch…er hi.”

“Hey Blaine, how you been?” Mitch smiled brightly at Blaine with no hint of smugness or attitude, it was a genuine, happy smile and somehow that irritated Blaine more; he wanted more of a reason to not like him.

Kurt sat down at the table in front of a stack of papers “So, what brings you hear on your day off?”

“Umm, well I was thinking that umm,” Blaine scuffed his feet and fidgeted with his hands under Mitch and Kurt’s gases “well, I knew you had the day off and I was bored, so yeah…” he trailed off lamely. He suddenly felt very young and naïve.

Kurt smiled but Blaine missed the brightness in it and the way Mitch was glancing between the two of them with a knowing grin. “Well Mitch and I were just marking some papers, but you can stick around if you like, we shouldn’t take too much longer.”

“Oh, umm…no I’ll go,” Blaine was ready to start backing out of the room, “I’ll just be a distraction.”

Kurt frowned, “Don’t be ridiculous, you can have lunch with us.”

“It’s okay, I umm…I actually should er work on my assignments, I’ve been umm, procrastinating anyway, so…”

Mitch saw the look of disappointment fill Kurt’s eyes as he watched Blaine pick up his keys, wallet and phone that he had put down on the table when he first came in. He gave Blaine a line of encouragement, trying to help Kurt in convincing him to stay and joking that he needed someone else for company other than Kurt who didn’t leave him alone about his clothes and hair.

Blaine wasn’t convinced though, his eyes still darting around as if he didn’t know where to look. After one last feeble excuse, Blaine practically scurried out of the house, then walk the distance back to his own as he and Kurt didn’t live that far from each other.

Back inside, Kurt was still slightly stunned and disappointed, which definitely wasn’t missed by Mitch. “What was that about?”

“I…I honestly don’t know,” Kurt admitted, “He was excited about explaining why he was here, but then he just…”

Kurt flapped his hands around a little to imitate Blaine’s strange behaviour, which earned a laugh from Mitch. “Maybe he was hoping to spend some time with _just_ you.”

“Maybe, but he…he likes you, why would he be so nervo- oh.” Kurt suddenly looked less confused and more devastated than anything as if a light bulb had just clicked on.

Mitch looked worriedly at him for a moment. “What’s wrong?”

“H-he must _like_ you.”

Kurt and Blaine had more in common than Mitch realised. They were both stubborn and once they had their mind on something, it was almost impossible to sway them. After some persistent prodding, Mitch finally had Kurt admitting to him that he wasn’t _just_ attracted to Blaine anymore and that seeing Blaine react that way to Mitch hurt more than he liked to admit. “Are you an idiot?”

“Well that was blunt.” Kurt sulked.

Mitch scoffed. “What do you expect? Kurt, he doesn’t like me like that, can’t you see that he is jealous?”

Their conversation wasn’t going anywhere; Kurt didn’t give Mitch full responses after a while and soon found and easy way out when he changed the subject. Mitch just sighed and went along with it.

\---

It happened again two days later. Blaine and Kurt were walking through the park when Mitch jogged up next to them, giving Blaine a quick pat on the back then Kurt a half hug, though he left his arm hanging around Kurt’s shoulders and they walked.

Mitch was making Kurt laugh with jokes that Blaine couldn’t make sense of. He suddenly felt very much like a third wheel and retreated back home when they made another lap of the park and passed the end his house was close to. His back was turned, so he didn’t see the heartbroken look on Kurt’s face.

\---

Blaine was almost at bursting point after two more weeks. Mitch had been popping up everywhere as if he always knew exactly when Blaine was around Kurt. He bumped into them at the grocery store on a few occasions, walking around with them while they filled a whole trolley and only getting milk for himself. Finn innocently invited Mitch to a the barbeque that they had decided they would have every Friday night, much to Blaine’s dismay. The one night he thought he didn’t have to worry about not getting to spend time with Kurt was also ruined.

Kurt tried talking to Blaine, asking him constantly if everything was okay between the two of them, but Blaine felt himself pushing Kurt away a little. He no longer ran when Mitch appeared somewhat out of thin air, instead he treated Mitch like a friend, because he was actually a really nice guy and got along really well with everyone.

Another two weeks passed and Blaine had long since overcome his need to snap or suddenly scream out in frustration. Now he was to the point of surrender. It wasn’t that he had given up, or maybe it was, but he was over feeling sorry for himself and he was definitely sick of pining over someone he knew wasn’t going to feel the same way about him.

So he stopped pushing Kurt away and acted even more like a close friend of Mitch’s than he had before. It was hard at first, but the more Blaine included himself and tried not to think of Mitch and Kurt in that way, the better he felt and the easier it got.

After a few weeks, Blaine and Kurt were back to the way they had been before Blaine was introduced to Mitch. They found themselves in their old routine of Kurt coming over for dinner most nights, even though he and Cooper didn’t need to meet anymore for the movie as they worked on filming during the day. They were back to watching movies that they never actually watched and staying up late enough to fall asleep, both curled up on the couch.

Kurt had tried to talk to Blaine, to tell him how he felt, but he didn’t want to ruin their newly mended friendship, even though they hadn’t really needed to mend much, but he didn’t want to risk anything. Blaine’s behaviour over the last month had been indication enough that it was best to keep their relationship strictly platonic, even if Cooper did find them curled up together on the couch, sound asleep with a DVD menu playing in the background most nights.

It hurt both of them to live that way, but it would hurt them more if what they had was ruined. It wasn’t what either of them wanted, but they were happy the way they were.

\---

Kurt and Blaine’s plans of making things work didn’t last much longer than the last four weeks of filming. Kurt hadn’t been needed on set very much, given that it was the tail end of filming, the cast and crew were only reshooting scenes that needed improving. He spent more time with Blaine when they both had time away from classes, which had been going well for a little while, but they were both getting irritated and were on edge more often than not.

When filming finished, they were starting to fight over things so petty they couldn’t even recall what had started the argument in the first place. Cooper had actually stepped into a couple of their arguments, sending Blaine off to his bedroom to cool down and dragging Kurt into the lounge room to give him a talking to. He loved Kurt like a brother and treated him exactly the same he would Blaine. “What was that all about?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Kurt sighed, “I have no idea what has gotten into him lately.”

Things had been tense for a while after that and Kurt decided that enough was enough, so he decided that they needed to meet on neutral grounds and sort things out. He chose the coffee shop down the road that they used to frequent, thinking it would be ideal to meet where things couldn’t get too heated.

It appeared that Kurt hadn’t needed to worry. Once Blaine arrived, they fell into and easy conversation, albeit still very different to their old talks, though it was definitely an improvement compared to the past month.

Blaine was wearing a bowtie again, which made Kurt smile because it was one of his favourites. He must have noticed Kurt looking because he asked, “Why’re you smiling like that?”

“Oh, ermm you’re wearing my favourite bowtie.” Kurt breathed embarrassingly.

The blush and shy grin he got in return was worth it though. Blaine looked out the window, the afternoon sunlight streaming in and dancing on his face. He stared at Blaine for longer than he probably should have, but he was captivated by the way the light shone on his eyes, the honey and golden specs glowing within the darker tones. He could see the eyes of a survivor, the eyes of a man who had been through so much as a boy and yet he still radiated happiness and love.

“Kurt, Blaine hi!” Both boys jumped at the sound. They turned to face Mitch who had just wondered over to their table.

Blaine looked as if someone had kicked his puppy the minute Mitch sat down beside Kurt, leaning over to give me a hug after shaking Blaine’s hand. He switched off to the conversation going on around him, attempting to get his thoughts sorted and clear in his mind. His head was a jumble, all thanks to Mitch. He had wanted today to be a day about him and Kurt, a day where they could fix their issues and maybe spill a little bit of truth to each other – provided Blaine found the courage. Now though? Right now, Blaine just wanted to get away again, to find someplace peaceful where he could just be alone to relax and turn off his brain. “I’m gonna, er head off.”

He interrupted Kurt midsentence, his and Mitch’s conversation came to an abrupt halt at the same time Blaine stood up from his chair. “What, but I thought-“

“Yeah, um…you know, third wheel…”

Kurt and Mitch were only able to let out small protests and words of concern before Blaine took off, almost sprinting out the door.

Kurt looked at Mitch with his jaw dropped, but Mitch just looked back at him expectantly as if he knew what was going on. “What?”

“You know exactly what.”

\---

Blaine didn’t look behind him as his legs carried him faster and faster away from the café. He knew it was stupid, he knew he should have just done what he had been doing and not let his feelings for Kurt get in the way, but he couldn’t help it.

Seeing Kurt so happy with Mitch, it hurt. It hurt so much and Blaine couldn’t handle it anymore. He knew he would never be in the same league as Mitch, he knew that and understood it, but that didn’t mean it didn’t make his heart ache as if it someone was trying to pull it in multiple directions, not caring if it collided with bones or not.

He felt the stones of the footpath crunch under his feet and started to slow down, the quiet of the park and shelter of the trees calming his rapidly beating heart. He fought the tears that were stinging the backs of his eyes. There was no way he was going to cry over this. Kurt was supposed to be the one that made him feel better, that prevented him from feeling the need to cry, not being the reason for his heartache.

No, Blaine was not going to cry.

It was harder than he thought it would be. He didn’t want to be angry at Kurt, or upset with him. He just wanted everything to be like they used to be when they were easy friends with nothing to worry about other than finding food to snack on or choosing the perfect movie that they were going to not watch for the night. Those were the days that Blaine wanted back, where he felt like Kurt’s equal and not just some kid with a school boy crush.

He wasn’t actually mad at Kurt, he doesn’t think he could ever be. He was more mad at himself for letting this happen, for letting himself get so deep and deluding himself that he and Kurt were a possibility.

Blaine couldn’t change anything, though. He really hated to admit it, but Cooper had been right; you can’t control your feelings.

\---

“Stop looking at me like that.”

Mitch sighed and put his arms on the table, “Kurt, you need to go after him and talk to him.”

Kurt looked down at his hands, clenching them tight together, “Like that seems to be working for us.”

“Both of you have been tiptoeing around each other for months, you need to actually talk about everything you’re thinking, not just sweeping it all under the mat and hoping it will all be okay.”

“You think I’m not trying?” Kurt exclaimed, earning a few strange glances, “I’ve been trying, but he obviously doesn’t want me to.”

“Kurt, you can’t let him go like this, you already let him go once, do you really think you want to do that again?”

“What are yo-“

Mitch cut him off, “Blaine and I do talk, you know. He told me his side of what you did for him in his senior year. You had to let him go then and, no…don’t deny you didn’t feel anything for him back then, I’ve seen it, the way you always spoke about him at school, and that was long before he was on the seen again.”

Kurt’s words were caught in his throat. Mitch was closer to the truth than Kurt would care to admit. He didn’t know what to say or what to do, he just knew that Mitch was right and Kurt had been attracted to Blaine once before and let him go, he didn’t want to do that again, especially since this time his feelings ran way deeper than just attraction.

He looked up at Mitch who was smirking far too proudly for Kurt’s liking. He rolled his eyes at Kurt then tilted his head towards the door, “Go.”

This time, Kurt didn’t need telling again. He got up quickly from his chair and skidded out the door, turning back to apologise to a girl he almost knocked over in his haste to get out.

He didn’t know how or why, but he didn’t follow the normal path that went back to Blaine’s house, instead he cut through the park, following the stones that he and Blaine frequented. He thought Blaine might have been out here, given he would prefer the quieter atmosphere under the trees rather than the louder streets.

Kurt spotted Blaine further ahead. He was sitting on a park bench, hunched over with his arms resting on his legs and hands twisting together. “Blaine!”

The head of curls shot up, searching for the voice that called his name. Blaine’s eyes landed on Kurt and the change was instant. His body stiffened and he stood up, turning away and walking briskly in the opposite direction.

Kurt called out to him again.

Then again.

Once more.

Kurt was right behind him now, having sprinted the distance between them. “Blaine, please!”

Blaine whirled around on the spot, surprising Kurt when they collided. Blaine jolted backwards, eyes darting everywhere before stopping on Kurt after a few seconds.

“What?”

Kurt flinched at the sharpness of Blaine’s voice, “Why did you run out like that?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe I’m sick and tired of being the third wheel.”

“Blaine, it’s not like that.”

“Not like that? Then what’s it like, huh?” Kurt found himself taking a small step away from Blaine. He had never seen him so angry, “This…thing with you and Mitch.”

Now things were making a little more sense, “Blaine, there is nothing going on with me and Mitch, he is a friend and a colleague.”

Blaine scoffed, “Then explain to me why I’m the one who gets shoved aside when he is around.”

“I thought that it was what you wanted.” Kurt had honestly thought that Blaine wanted his space, he thought he was doing the right thing by Blaine.

“You thought it was what I fucking _wanted_? You think I wanted to see you with Mitch any time the two of us were together? You think it doesn’t hurt to see how happy he makes you? Well it fucking does, Kurt! It hurts a lot!”

Kurt felt his voice catch as he pleaded for answers, “Why?”

“Because I love you!!”

Blaine grabbed his head in his hands and tugged on his curls. He let out a groan of frustration before he turned around to follow the path back home. He couldn’t do this, he couldn’t stick around to face the rejection, the pity and th-

“Umph.” Blaine felt himself being pulled back by the wrist. He hadn’t even righted himself when he felt a soft warmth pressed hard on his lips. For a second, he panicked, his brain not quite up to speed. A gentle touch at the back of his neck had his mind catching up as he felt Kurt press in closer to him; there was no mistaking hands that soft and delicate.

Kurt brought his hand further around Blaine’s neck, closer to his jaw, while the other resting gently on the opposite side. Kurt’s lips moved against Blaine’s, who was responding now that he realised what was happening. He slid his arms around Kurt’s waist, bringing him in closer.

Blaine had never been into the clichés of romance, so he wouldn’t go as far to say that there were fireworks, but there was definitely a warmth and chemistry. Everything around them switched off too and the park suddenly felt a lot quieter and calmer than before. After a few moments, Kurt pulled back just enough that their lips were only just touching.

“You have no idea….how long…I have want to…do that.”

They stood there for a few more minutes, both staring in disbelief over what just happened. Warm breath ghosted over both of their faces as they tried to get their breathing under control. “Yeah, I think I do.”

Kurt leant back in, this time keeping the kiss slow and soft with no rush or need to prove anything like their first kiss.

“I love you too, Blaine.

 


	8. Wow Indeed

“I should probably go…” Blaine sighed as he pulled back from where he had his head resting on Kurt’s shoulder. They had moved themselves over to the bench a little after their kiss and had been leaning against each other for the past ten minutes.

They hadn’t talked much, instead Blaine had traced light patterns on Kurt’s hands, causing them both to giggle when it turned into a small game.

Kurt slumped against the back of the bench. “Noo, do you have to?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Cooper and Charlotte want to go out, so I’m on babysitting duties.”

Blaine stood up and stretched, his joints popping loudly in the quiet park. Kurt remained on the bench. He crossed his arms and stuck his bottom lip out. “Hey! No nonono, no pouting mister!”

Kurt didn’t pull his lip back in. He just sat there, pouting at Blaine as he batted his eyelids. Blaine sighed, feeling guilty. “Come here.”

No longer pouting, Kurt jumped up from the bench and stepped into Blaine’s arms, circling his own over Blaine’s shoulders and around his neck. He grinned hopefully and a little cheekily. “So, does this mean that you’re staying?”

“Hmmmm, no,” Blaine smiled and looked up at Kurt through his lashes, “But you _could_ walk me home.”

Kurt’s face looked thoughtful for a few moments, as if he really is thinking about it. Blaine let out a small laugh and nudged Kurt in the ribs. Kurt giggled but exclaimed “Ow, what’s with the violence?”

“Quit teasing then.” Blaine gave him a second prod.

Kurt jolted to the side a little. “Okay, okay I surrender,” he grinned at Blaine, suddenly shy and a little nervous, “I’ll walk you home.”

Blaine pulled away from Kurt, letting his hand run down Kurt’s arm until he found his hand. He threaded their fingers together and gave Kurt a little tug as he started walking towards his house.

The walk was longer than usual, but that probably had to do with the different path that they were taking and the slow pace that they were walking. Blaine could tell that Kurt was deliberately slowing down with each turn in the park, but he wasn’t complaining. He really didn’t want their day to end either.

Half way back to Blaine’s house, Kurt started swinging their hands together and shooting little smiles at Blaine. They had an endearing shyness to them that Blaine had never seen on Kurt until today. It was becoming his new favourite thing.

Since the day that Blaine came home from college to find Kurt in his kitchen, he had felt the obvious change in their dynamic. Of course, it was to be expected, given that they hadn’t seen in each other since Blaine’s senior year, but it was more than that. Blaine noticed it from the first moment he spoke to Kurt, from their first conversation; Kurt treated him like an equal, not his student. There had been small moments, particularly recently, where Blaine had felt like an immature school boy compared to Kurt, but Kurt had always made him feel much older while at the same time making himself appear younger and nothing like the teacher Blaine remembered.

Now was one of these moments. With Kurt being the one that was swinging their hands and showing small signs of nervousness, Blaine felt more than an equal; he felt accepted and worthy and wanted.

Blaine had been so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t even realise that they were already back at his house until his feet stopped crunching over stones, instead they scuffed on the more solid bitumen.

They stopped at Blaine’s front gate, giving each other’s hand a slight squeeze before letting go. “You know, you _could_ stay and help babysit…”

Kurt stared at Blaine for a moment, his eyes analysing Blaine’s hopeful expression. Then he started laughing. When he noticed the small frown on Blaine’s face, he straightened up and tried to calm his giggles. “Oh, you were serious?”

“Jeez, wow to make a guy feel good.” Blaine crossed his arms over his stomach and looked anywhere but at Kurt.

Kurt reached forward and quickly grabbed hold of Blaine’s hands. “Hey, no. I’m sorry, I was only laughing because _no one_ trusts me with kids, I don’t even trust _myself_ with kids. I mean, you know what happens when I hold James. Besides, he still hates me.”

“James doesn’t hate you,” Blaine tries not to laugh at Kurt’s pout, especially when he remembers the last time James and Kurt had interacted; put simply, Kurt never wears his expensive clothes to Blaine’s anymore, “he just…hasn’t warmed up to you yet.”

Kurt scoffs, “Seriously? No, being a little shy around me, that’s what I call _‘not warming up’_ but victimising me is what I call hate.”

“Victimising, really? You’re actually claiming to be victimised by a one and a half year old boy?” Blaine looks at him mockingly, smirking at Kurt’s affronted expression.

“Yes, Blaine,” Kurt crossed his arms this time, childishly though, “You wouldn’t understand, you’re not the one who has multiple toys thrown at you every time you enter that kid’s five meter bubble space: which, by the way, is hard to avoid _indoors_.”

Blaine laughs loud, with the combination of Kurt’s pout and exactly what he was saying, he would actually question who was older between the of two of them. “I really hope Rachel desperately needs you to babysit one day.”

“You are cruel.”

Blaine smiled, “Yes, I’m an evil genius,” he sighs, “that has to leave like…ten minutes ago.”

“Ugh, fine,” Kurt lets his arms fall to his side, “I’ll let you leave this time. But umm…”

Kurt looks down at his hands, twisting them together. Blaine can see the blush forming on his cheeks and watches him curiously. “Are you alright?”

“I’m um, maybe a little bit…nervous.”

Blaine lifts Kurt’s face up with his pointer finger on Kurt’s chin. “What, why are you nervous?”

Kurt darts his eyes around, not meeting Blaine’s eyes. He mumbles something and the blush on his cheeks darkens. “Sorry, what was that?”

He sighs and lets out a choked laugh, “Because you _make_ me nervous.”

Blaine smiles brightly, “Is that so?”

“You’re loving this, aren’t you?” Kurt huffs.

Blaine smirked, “Maybe…”

They stood in silence for a moment, Blaine smirking and trying not to giggle at the glare Kurt was piercing him with. “Geesh, if looks could kill…”

“Here I am trying to ask you out on a date and all you can do is mock me for being nervous about it, well shame on you, Anderson!”

Kurt wasn’t really angry or upset, the way he stuck his tongue out at Blaine at the end of his rant was clue enough. “Hey, I wasn’t mocki- wait, wait you were trying to ask me out?”

“Yes,” Kurt nodded, glancing back down at his hands.

“Well in that case, I would be honoured to go out on a date with you.”

Kurt’s head shot up so fast, Blaine was actually surprised he didn’t jar it. Kurt’s eyes were wide and shining with pure optimistic hope. “Really?!”

“Yes, really.” Blaine chuckled in exasperation.

“Oh, well…umm, I actually hadn’t gotten further in my plan than um, asking you. So I don’t have…well, I don’t _have_ a plan at all.”

Blaine couldn’t stop himself from smiling. This was definitely a side to Kurt he wanted to see more of. “Don’t worry, we’ll come up with something.”

Kurt glanced at Blaine this time, instead of his hands. “Is it alright if I, um…if I plan this?” He asked nervously then said in a rush, “I’ll get back to you and if you don’t like it that’s okay I mean a surprise would be good, but you should decide too it doesn’t just have to be me, and I’ll-“

“Kurt.”

Blaine put his finger over Kurt’s lips, halting him mid-sentence. Kurt mumbled through his almost fully closed lips, “Mmmyes?”

“I’d be more than happy if you planned a surprise date.”

Kurt’s grin was so big, Blaine had to pull his finger away to stop it from touching Kurt’s teeth. Kurt’s response came out in an overwhelmed breath, “Okay.”

“BLAINE!”

Both boys jumped at the shout that had come from the house. They turned to see Cooper standing in the door way, arms held out as if to say _what’s the deal?_ Blaine gulped as Cooper then pointed at his watch and marched back into the house.

“So, I should definitely go this time.”

Kurt grinned, “Probably a good idea.”

They both looked at each other, neither knowing what to say or do.

“Umm, I guess I’ll hear from you soon?” Blaine asked quietly, looking up at Kurt through his eyelashes.

Kurt melted at the sight and wished for their date to be happening now, “Yeah.”

“Sooo,” Blaine swayed around a little, suddenly feeling like he had studied for a final only to realise he had been in the wrong subject. It made him feel a little better knowing that Kurt seemed to be having the same issue.

They both looked at each other straight on this time, no eyelashes restricting their vision or eyes darting all over the place. They stepped closer to each other, neither of them averting their eyes. Looking at Kurt like this, Blaine could really see all the details about him that he usually missed. Like the amount of freckles that were scattered all over his pale skin or the mix of colours in his eyes; not even from this distance could Blaine tell if they were blue or green. They reminded him of the kaleidoscope that he used to play with as a kid when Cooper let him have a turn; Kurt’s eyes were dancing with colour even though they weren’t moving.

Kurt was also surprised to see that Blaine’s skin had a light smattering of freckles, he never would have noticed had he not been so close. Kurt swallowed nervously when he glimpsed Blaine edging closer; it was stupid, he had been the one to initiate the kiss earlier, but this time it seemed to hold a lot more…meaning? Or maybe it was because before he didn’t really have a chance to think, he just made a slit second decision. Now though, now it was like he was under a ball of pressure that was not letting up.

A soft press of lips against his wiped Kurt’s mind of everything that he was attempting to analyse, he pushed everything out of his mind and focussed on Blaine. Blaine who was kissing him gently, lips moving slowly and deliberately against Kurt’s.

Kurt lifted one hand up and ran it along the length of Blaine’s side, starting at his hip then up until it circled Blaine’s neck where he tangled his fingers in the dark curls. Blaine gripped Kurt’s hips, holding him close as he pushed his lips into Kurt’s, though keeping the pressure soft. Kurt’s other hand cupped Blaine’s jaw, his fingers brushing gently on Blaine’s smooth skin.

They stayed that way for a few moments, their lips moving, still gently with no increase to the pressure. It was delicate. It was sweet. It was breathtaking. They slowly pulled away with a very quiet sound, their lips sliding against each other’s one last time.

“Wow,” Blaine breathed, eyes still closed.

Kurt rested his forehead on Blaine’s, “Wow, indeed.”

Reluctantly, they both separated with promises to talk soon. Before Blaine could leave, Kurt turned to the garden behind him. He fiddled with a bush for a moment, though what he was doing was blocked by his body so Blaine couldn’t see. When he turned around, he thrust a single rose out in front of him, holding it out for Blaine to take. Blaine let a soft gasp and took the rose; he whispered a “ _thank-you”_ before actually leaving this time.

Blaine stepped backwards along the pathway, half walking sideways while he tried to watch Kurt who was staring at him in a slight daze. Blaine walked up the steps, this time facing forwards until he reached the top. He turned around to see Kurt give him a little wave, smile shyly and then turn back towards the park.

Blaine closed the front door behind him and leant against it, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to compose himself for a moment. He pushed away from the door when he felt his brain come back to reality, which only caused a blinding smile to spread across his face.

“You look like you just won the lottery.” Cooper appeared at the end of the foyer.

Holding the rose to his nose, Blaine breathed in the fragrance. “I think I just did.” He grinned fleetingly at Cooper then wondered off towards his room, still clutching the rose and holding it to his face where a smile could be seen poking out behind the bright red.

Cooper watched him curiously, “Did you really?”

Blaine just “ _hmmed”_ in response.

“Wait, what’s a rose got to do with the lottery?”

 


	9. Date Night

“Charlotte, come here.” Cooper poked his head into their bedroom and whispered to Charlotte who was placing a few items into her black beaded bag.

She turned to face Cooper. “What?”

Cooper motioned for her to follow him down the hallway, placing his pointer finger to his lips to make sure she was quiet. She put her bag down and slipped her feet out of her heels before tiptoeing after him. He stopped her at the end of the hallway and tapped his ears, then pointed in the direction of Blaine’s room.

At first there was no sound, but then they both heard music. Unlike the last time Cooper had heard music coming from Blaine’s room, this music was not from his brother’s music player. This time, Cooper could distinctly hear the keys of a piano and Blaine’s voice accompanying the music. He was loud, his voice was clear, no longer just a quiet humming sound.

It had been years since Cooper had heard his brother sing; so long that he almost forgot what his brother sounded like and just how talented he really was. Charlotte reached her hands up to Cooper’s face, running her fingers under his eyes; he hadn’t even realised that he was crying.

Cooper let out a choked laugh, “I-I can’t believe he’s singing again.”

Later that night, when Cooper and Charlotte come home, they found Blaine in the family room with James. They were on the floor and Blaine was spinning James around in a messy dance move, awkwardly trying to manoeuvre himself around on his knees.

Before Cooper or Charlotte can say hello, Blaine opened his mouth and started to sing again while he spun and lifted James, “ _You make me feel like I’m living a teenage dream, the way you turn me on…_ ”

“Very appropriate song to sing to your nephew, Squirt.”

Blaine jumped slightly when Cooper spoke. He righted himself on his knees after losing his balance a little. “Umm, you’re back.”

Charlotte took James with her into the dining room, leaving Cooper to talk to Blaine. Cooper sat down on the couch, Blaine following him shortly. A strange sense of déjà vu settled over them both, though this time, Cooper didn’t really know where to begin. His tears from earlier returned, worrying Blaine.

Blaine placed a hand on Cooper’s arm, “Coop?”

Cooper smiled, reassuring Blaine that he was okay. More than okay, “You’re singing again.”

“I’m happy, Coop.” Blaine grinned, bright and wide. “I’m really, really happy.”

Cooper glanced over at Blaine who truly looked happy. His smile was vibrant and wide, reaching his eyes that were sparkling and crinkling at the edges. Cooper remembers seeing Blaine this happy, though the images of his younger brother smiling like he had won the world were old and unclear. They were only faint memories from a distant childhood.

“And what has made you so happy?”

Blaine ducked his head and squirmed a little on his cushion. A slight blush spread across his cheeks but his grin only grew, if that was even possible. “Who.”

“Sorry?”

Blaine chuckled, “You mean ‘who’ has made me happy.”

Cooper turned quickly to face Blaine full on, “What?! Spill! Who is it?”

Starting from lunch earlier in the day, Blaine told Cooper everything. As he spoke, his grin only got bigger, his eyes crinkled more and he became more and more animated with every sentence he spoke.

“I’m happy for you, Squirt.”

***

Kurt walked the path back through the park to his house, swaying slightly with every step he took. He lifted a hand to his lips, brushing his fingers over the smooth skin. His felt his lips pull into a smile that didn't fade from his face the whole walk home.

Ten minutes later, as Kurt was approaching his front door, he was pulled from the daze he seemed to be in.

“Kurt, where have you been?” He looked up to find Rachel sitting on his front steps, looking at him suspiciously.

“I was out for lunch,” Kurt said, as if it was obvious.

“That was hours ago, Kurt,” Rachel cross her arms and gave Kurt a pointed look, “You forgot, didn't you?”

Kurt's eyes widened and his body tensed. He had completely forgotten that he had organised to meet with Rachel that evening, having been so caught up in Blaine. Thinking about Blaine made Kurt want to be back with him, arms wrapped around each other and lips connected in a gentle kiss. He felt pathetic, missing him already, but he was so ridiculously happy that he didn't even care.

“Why are you smiling like that?” Rachel asked.

“I was with Blaine.” Kurt said, as if that was all the explanation needed. Which, apparently, it was.

“You, oh my gosh Kurt!” Rachel squealed as she jumped up and threw her arms around Kurt's neck, “This is amazing, I'm so happy for you.”

Kurt hugged Rachel tightly, burying his face into her neck. She could feel his smile against her skin and wrapped her arms around him a little tighter before pulling away, “So, tell me what happened...”

***

After Rachel had left, Kurt cleaned up their dishes from dinner before he plopped himself on the couch and pulled out his phone. He opened up his contact list and scrolled to Blaine, but paused on his name. He stared at it for a whole minute before caving and pressing the dial button.

“ _Hey_ ,” Blaine answered, his voice soft and seemingly shy.

Kurt snuggled into the cushions of the couch, “Hi.”

“ _How are you?_ ”

“Tired,” Kurt sighed, “Rachel just left.”

“That's enough to exhaust you.”

“What about you, how was James?”

“He was good, I taught him to dance.”

“Dance?”

“Okay, it was more me holding him up and shuffling around on my knees than actual dancing, but it's progress.”

Kurt laughed loudly.

“I was thinking, are you free tomorrow night?”

“I am, why?” Blaine asked, and Kurt could hear the slight hint of hope in his voice.

“Do you want to go out with me on a date?”

“I would love to.”

***

The following night, Blaine answered the door, dressed and ready for his date with Kurt.

Kurt took Blaine's hand in his own and tugged gently, “Ready to go?”

Blaine didn't say anything, he just smiled shyly and squeezed Kurt's hand before letting Kurt lead him down the front path. He didn't trust his voice to speak, feeling the nerves bubbling in his stomach persistently. Everything was just as he had expected it to be but then at the same time it was nothing how he had imagined.

The nerves were definitely there, that he had expected, but the casual ease of Kurt leant into him and held his hand, squeezing every now and again, he hadn't expected that. He was thank-full though, it made him feel relaxed and able to focus on Kurt rather than worrying about tripping or something equally as embarrassing.

It wasn't until Blaine felt his feet hit a soft surface when he realised that Kurt was leading them off the path through the park an into a dark, thick wall of trees. Before he had the chance to ask Kurt what was going on, Kurt turned around to face Blaine, picking up his free hand at the same time.

“Can you close your eyes for me?” Kurt asked in a soft whisper.

Blaine let his eyes flutter closed, “You've got me intrigued now.”

Kurt chuckled but didn't say anything. Instead, he guided Blaine forward through a gap in the trees and into a clearing. He stopped for a moment, just watching Blaine's face and how peaceful he looked.

“Okay, you can open your eyes now.”

Blaine let his eyes open slowly, gradually letting in the light that had not been there before in the darkness of the park. His eyes widened as he took in everything around him, from the enclosed wall of trees, to the soft forest floor and the lanterns that hung above his head.

It felt like deja vu, as if Kurt had taken him back to his summer holidays before his freshman year, back to a day that had been so perfect, no matter how badly it had ended, the day had been one of Blaine's favourites. He hadn't realised that he was crying until Kurt spoke.

“Oh Blaine, I'm sorry,” Kurt put a hand on Blaine's arm, “I shouldn't have-”

“No, no Kurt,” Blaine looked up to meet Kurt's eyes, “It's perfect and amazing and-”

Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck and pulled him close, “Thank-you.”

Kurt had finally stopped Blaine from staring at the lights surrounding them (“But Kurt, it looks like a galaxy.”), they were both sitting on the blanket, picking at the various foods Kurt had packed.

“...so after half an hour of listening to her rant about colour schemes and how she wanted to decorate the nursery, I swear my ears and eyes were burning from the horror image that she had created, I honestly thought she would outgrow her fashion taste.”

“Okay, as much as I admire your passion, I don't want to spend the whole night talking about Rachel's lack of interior design talent and Cooper's newest acting lesson he has attempted on James already.”

“You're right,” Kurt laughed, “Tonight is about us, we should talk about each other.”

Blaine tapped his chin a couple of times, pretending to look thoughtful, “Alright, if you could have anything you wanted right now, what would it be?”

“Churros!”

“I just gave you the option to have one thing in the whole world and you go with a deep fried, chocolate coated piece of batter?”

Kurt gasped in horror, “You dare insult Churros, they're amazing!”

“You are sad,” Blaine said, shaking his head.

Ten minutes later their food was finished and Blaine flopped backwards onto the blanket, shortly followed by Kurt who laid back next to him. They laid there in silence for a while, both staring up at the lights.

“It feels like we're floating.” Blaine said quietly, barely above a whisper.

Kurt moved one of his hands next to him until it clasped around Blaine's between them, “It feels like we're worlds away from everything.”

Blaine sat up slightly, leaning his shoulders on one of the pillows that Kurt had brought. He looked down at Kurt who he found already looking back at him. Kurt sat up and leant over Blaine, placing one hand on the ground next to Blaine's waist and keeping the other clasped around Blaine's hand.

“Is it naïve to already know that I'm in love with you?” Blaine asked breathlessly.

Kurt's smile was impossibly bright, “Probably,” he closed the gap between them and connected their lips in a soft and chaste kiss.

Blaine lifted his hand up to Kurt's neck and ran it lightly through his hair before Kurt pulled away and laid against Blaine's side, “You know, you're lucky I love you otherwise you would have been dead for touching my hair.”

“Yeah, I'm very lucky.”


	10. Can I Do This?

“Please Kurt,” Finn asked, holding his hands together in front of him, pleading with Kurt to say yes, “It will be fun!”

Kurt raised his eyebrows, “Fun? I don't think so.”

“Oh come on, she loves you,” Finn reasoned, “It'll be a perfect time for you to bond.”

Kurt scoffed. He knew all about bonding with Annabelle. Over the past year, Kurt had not only been exposed to more of James' antics, from him throwing objects to actually pulling off pranks against Kurt, but he had also had to endure the lovely tantrums of one Annabelle Hudson.

“Finn, her idea of bonding only ends with me wounded, both physically and emotionally mind you, and her wailing as if I personally victimised her.”

“She is one year old, Kurt, and I'm sure Blaine will be there to help,” Finn said and Kurt could practically hear his grin through the phone, “It'll be good practice for you both!”

Kurt choked on air, “Finn, we've been together for a year, we're not even married. Kids are the last thing on our minds.”

There was a sigh on the other end of the phone and Kurt felt a little guilty, but in his defence he had every right to say no. Annabelle had it in for him, he was sure of it. “Please Kurt, I...I just, I really want you and her to bond. You know, uncle and niece.”

Kurt may be adamant that he and Annabelle, or any child, are going to get along, but there was no way he could say no to Finn now. “Okay, I'll do it.”

Finn whooped on the other end of the phone, “Thank-you so much, Kurt. You will have a great time, I promise you.”

***

Blaine was lounging on his bed, holding a book above his head as he read. His arms were starting to tire from holding them up so long, but he couldn't take his eyes off the words on the page long enough to turn to his stomach.

His moment of peace was shattered when his phone blared from the end of his bed. He glared for a whole of two seconds until he recognised it as the ringtone he had programmed for Kurt and instead dived for his phone.

He answered with a cheery, “Hey you!”

“You, Blaine Devon Anderson, are so dead!” Kurt's voice gritted through the phone.

Blaine cringed. He didn't think he had done anything to upset Kurt. “I'm scared to ask why?”

Kurt grumbled and whined, which made him sound like a pre-pubescent teen, “You jinxed me.”

“Jinxed you?” Blaine asked, confused. He would have remembered jinxing someone, especially Kurt because he was smart and it was always a triumph beating him at something.

“Yes, you jinxed me,” Kurt huffed, “The day you and I had our first kiss, you said you hope that Rachel desperately needs me to babysit, well guess who just got asked to babysit for a week?”

Blaine frowned and went to respond but Kurt kept talking, “I don't even understand what was going through Finn's head when he thought, oh why don't I ask my brother who sucks at taking care of children to babysit my daughter?”

“I know you want my support on this, but I think it will be good for you.”

“Really Blaine?” Kurt dead-panned, “You honestly believe that?”

Blaine grimaced a little, having being around Kurt and James at the same time, Blaine knew first hand what Kurt was like with kids. “Well, okay I admit it might be a...hurdle, but she's your niece, you'll regret it if you don't make the most of it.”

“Yeah I know,” Kurt sighed, “I better go, I've got a bit more work to get through today.”

“When will you be home?”

“I shouldn't be too long, maybe an hour.”

Blaine smiled, “I'll see you then.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

***

When Kurt got home, he found Blaine in the kitchen, standing at the stove. He was stirring something in a frying pan and Kurt breathed in the smell of garlic and basil. “Hey you.” He dumped his bags on the floor in front of the bench and walked around the kitchen island.

“Hello,” Kurt stood behind Blaine and wrapped his arms around Blaine's waist. He hooked his chin over Blaine's shoulder and pressed a kiss to his neck, “This smells good.”

Blaine turned his head around a little a pressed a light kiss to Kurt's cheek, “It's almost done, are you hungry?”

“Starving,” Kurt groaned, “I'll set the table.”

“Hey no, you sit down and relax.”

Kurt protested but Blaine just glared at him and pointed to the table. He pulled a glass from the cabinet and poured a glass of wine then took it over to Kurt.

“Thank-you,” Kurt smiled, “What did I do to deserve you?”

Blaine chuckled, leant down and kissed Kurt gently, giving him an affectionate smile instead of answering.

Ten minutes later, Blaine was plating up their dinner – creamy basil and chicken pasta with bacon. He asked Kurt questions about his day at work, how his newest project was going, but Kurt's mind seemed occupied. He answered, but not with his usual enthusiasm, and kept trailing off before finishing a sentence.

“Kurt, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I'm fine,” Kurt said, not looking up from his plate.

Blaine watched him curiously for a moment, the way Kurt stabbed his fork at the pasta, missing what was left on his plate completely because he wasn't actually _looking_ at the plate. “No you're not.”

Kurt's fork dropped to his plate, clattering loudly in the otherwise silent kitchen. “Um, sorry. Slipped..from my fingers.”

“Kurt, talk to me.”

He shook his head, shutting Blaine out, “I told you I'm fine.”

Blaine sighed and leant over the table to take Kurt's hand in his own, “I know you're not,” he rubbed his fingers along the back of Kurt's hand, “Is this about Annabelle?”

Kurt snatched his hand back, “Nothing is wrong, I'm fine!” He looked up at Blaine, who had recoiled slightly when Kurt snapped, and sighed, eyes apologetic. He rubbed his hands over his face before leaving the kitchen. Blaine took a deep and calming breath when he heard the door to their bedroom close.

He took his time picking up their dinner plates and cleaning up the kitchen, giving Kurt time to cool off and relax before they talked again. By the time he had washed the dishes, put all the food away and wiped down the benches, half and hour had passed and Blaine thought that was enough time.

He found Kurt in their room, sitting cross-legged on the floor at the foot of the bed. Kurt didn't look up when Blaine walked in, just continued staring at his hands that were clutching a small, pink teddy.

Blaine sat down next to him and crossed his legs too. They sat in silence for a few minutes, both of them staring ahead at the open door until Kurt spoke, “I'm sorry.”

“It's okay,” Blaine said quietly.

“No, it's not,” Kurt looked back down at the teddy, “What if I can't do it?”

Blaine turned his head to the side and glanced down at the teddy; it was one of Annabelle's, one she wouldn't miss. “But you will, Kurt.”

“But what if I can't, what then?” Kurt faced Blaine, “I'm scared, Blaine. I've never seriously considered being a father, but if I can't even take care of my own niece, then how am I supposed to raise a son or a daughter?”

Hearing Kurt talk about children, his own children, it felt overwhelming, surreal. They had never mentioned kids before, not in this way, not in any real way, but that was because they had never thought about children before. Blaine didn't want to let Kurt's words give him hope for something they may never have, but now that it was on his mind, it was hard to ignore.

Blaine clasped Kurt's hands in his own, “I don't know what's going to happen in the future, Kurt, but I do know that no matter what, you will do anything to be the best father that you can be.”

“But what if my best isn't enough?” Kurt asked helplessly, “What if my son or daughter are like Annabelle or James? I can't put you through that.”

In that moment, Blaine wanted nothing more than to leap up from the floor and shout his feelings to the roof, but Kurt didn't need him yelling happily about the prospect of children in their future, he needed comfort and support.

“How about we ask Finn and Rachel if we can bring Annabelle's stuff over here, we'll set up a temporary nursery and that way we'll still be in out own home and I can be here to help you if you need me to. Think of it as practice. For both of us.”

Kurt smiled, but it was only small, “You don't have to do this, Blaine. I can't make you give up your time like that, you've got a college degree to finish.”

“You're not making me do anything, I'm helping because I love you and don't want you to be scared.”

“Okay,” Kurt breathed and pulled Blaine into a hug, “Again, what did I do to deserve you?”

“You saved my life.”

***

A week later on the Monday, Finn and Rachel dropped off all the things Annabelle would need over the next week. After they left, Blaine made Kurt sit down on the floor and then handed Annabelle down to him. He could see that Kurt was conflicted between fear and wanting to prove his fear wrong, so he gave his arm an encouraging squeeze before he went to set up the temporary nursery.

He was in there for five minute when the crying started. In the lounge room, Kurt was trying to calm Annabelle down, but everything he was trying to do wasn't working. Blaine watched for a couple of moments as Kurt tried to coerce her into playing with a toy, he tried taking to her, but it only made it worse.

Blaine walked over and sat down on the floor with them both. He picked up a couple of the toys that were lying around out of Annabelle's reach. He held up a yellow, rubber tiger that squeaked when you squeezed it and a soft, purple dinosaur.

“Hey Bella girl, which one do you want?” Blaine shook the toys to get her attention and she slowly began to calm down enough to point at the tiger. She reached for it and Blaine slowly handed it to her, but didn't let her take it straight away.

“Ta,” Blaine said, pulling the toy away slightly when she tried to pull it from his hands, “Can you say ta?”

Annabelle grinned cheekily, “Dah,” It wasn't quite right, but Blaine was amused so he handed over the toy and laughed when she immediately discovered it squeaks. He turned to look at Kurt, who was watching the two of them with sad eyes. He reached over and wrapped his arm around Kurt's shoulder, pulling him close.

“How did you do that?” Kurt asked, curiously.

Blaine watched Annabelle as she squeaked the toy repetitively, “I gave her options. Charlotte taught me that if you give them options, it teaches them colours and what things are, but it also includes them in social interactions. She trusted me then because I gave her the option to pick her own toy.”

'You're good at this,” Kurt smiled when Annabelle started laughing at the tiger each time it squeaked.

“You will be too,” Blaine kissed Kurt on the cheek.

They turned back to Annabelle who was now watching them with interest, “Hey Bella girl.” Annabelle giggled and blew a raspberry on the tiger's stomach, mimicking Blaine kissing Kurt's cheek. They both dissolved into giggles which Annabelle joined in with, knowing she was the cause of it.

***

Wednesday, Kurt learnt that Annabelle likes the noisy toys and the ones that make the most mess not just in the lounge room, but the whole house. They had closed the door to their bedroom earlier before she discovered it but had allowed her to roam free around the rest of the house. They took turns watching her, even though Blaine said he was only going to help if Kurt needed him, but he loved kids and enjoyed playing her games just as much as she did.

In the span of a few hours, Annabelle was already warming up to Kurt, though there was still a long way to go. She was letting him sit with her on the floor to play, but when she roamed around the house, Kurt knew to leave her be.

Things became tense when Blaine had to lock himself in their room to get some work for his classes done, but Annabelle wasn't taking to Kurt who was trying to clean her, himself and the kitchen after she upended her lunch over them both.

“Shh, Anna please don't cry,” Kurt attempted to calm her down.

Blaine came into the bathroom just at the same time Kurt lifted the face washer to wipe the mess off his chest. He had taken his shirt off when he got to the bathroom because Annabelle's food hand gone done his front.

Kurt turned around when he heard Blaine walk in and immediately his eyes welled with tears. “I don't know what to do, every time I touch her, she cries. But when I tried to wipe the food off me, she wailed as if I threw it in her face.”

Blaine stepped forward and took the face washer from Kurt's hands. He sat down on the floor in front of the tub and nudged Kurt to join him. “Sometimes sitting down at their level helps.”

He leant over the tub's edge and stuck his hand in the water. He picked up a cup that was floating in the water, filled it before tipping it gently over Annabelle's head, making sure to not let it flow over her face. He picked up the face washer and handed it to Kurt.

“Try and give it to her,” Blaine said gently.

Kurt took the face washer and tentatively passed it over to Annabelle, “Ta.”

“Duh,” Annabelle clapped happily and took the face washer. She splashed it in the water, causing enough splashes to cover her whole body as well as Kurt and Blaine's faces. They laughed along with her and Blaine started splashing her back. It soon turned into a war where Kurt and Blaine ended up soaked while Annabelle giggled at their sopping hair.

***

On Friday night, Blaine cooked dinner and put on extra vegetables for Annabelle. Kurt watched what he did and asked questions while he kept and eye on Annabelle who was peacefully playing with some blocks on the rug, having exhausted herself by trying to run around the house for the last hour. She only crawled if she really had to, but most of the time she was on her feet, usually running away from Kurt but more often than not, she was hiding her toys around the house. A few times, Blaine made sure he was out of sight so Annabelle's only option was Kurt, which seemed to work as each time Blaine came back into the main part of the house, Annabelle was interacting with Kurt. It was only ever for a couple of minutes, but it was progress.

“Alright, Bella girl. Here are your yummy vegetables,” Blaine singsonged as he placed a bowl of sweat potato, pumpkin and carrots on the tray of her high chair. She held her arms up to Blaine to pick her up, but he pointed to Kurt who was sitting on the other side of the high chair.

He was surprised when she walked straight over to Kurt and put her arms up, “Kur. Kur.”

Kurt's head shot up to look at Blaine in alarm. Blaine smiled brightly and gave Kurt the thumbs up. Kurt turned back to Annabelle, who was still babbling, “Kur, kur, kur,” and bent down to lift her up.

“Heyyy Anna,” He put her down on her high chair and took the seat beside her. He picked up the spoon that Blaine had put next to her bowl and held it out for her, “Ta.”

She kicked her feet around, “Duh.”

“There you go, good girl.”

***

They spent most of their day on Sunday lazing around the house. Annabelle had slept longer than she had all week and woke up after seven thirty. After the night that she started saying Kurt's name, Annabelle began to interact with him without Blaine prompting her to. After dinner, both Kurt and Annabelle were exhausted from playing so many games, Blaine found them collapsed together on the couch, sound asleep. He felt bad, but he woke them up so they could go to be and sleep properly.

Kurt went to go to his and Blaine's room while Blaine took Annabelle to bed when she grabbed Kurt's pants and tugged on them. Blaine gave her a hug and kiss, “Goodnight, Bella girl.”

Blaine went off to their room to get ready for bed while Kurt carried Annabelle into her room and put her in her portable cot. Once she was settled down in the blankets, he ran his fingers through her hair and watched her eyes start to flutter. Even though their week had started out rocky, they had come along way. As much as Kurt wished he didn't have to admit that Finn had been right, but he was.

The week had gone fast and Kurt suddenly felt sad that it was their last night with Annabelle. He didn't want their week to end, didn't want to go back to being just Kurt and Blaine without her giggles to make them smile, her calling out in the morning to wake them up and especially their wars at bath time. He sighed and bent over to give her a kiss on the forehead.

“Goodnight, princess.”

***

Back in their room, Blaine was just pulling the covers back on their bed, ready for them to get in when Kurt walked into the room. “How was Annabe-”

Kurt grabbed Blaine and kissed him full on the mouth. Blaine kissed back heatedly, wrapping his arm around Kurt's neck. They kissed for a moment longer before Kurt started smiling and it became to awkward to actually kiss, but they kept their lips together. “Marry me,” Kurt breathed against Blaine's lips, clutching the front of his shirt.

Blaine pulled back and stared at Kurt, his eyes wide but positively bright. “What?” He asked breathlessly.

Kurt took Blaine's hands in his and looked Blaine directly in the eyes, “Will you marry me?”

Blaine laughed and jumped up and down, “Yes! A thousand times yes!” He wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck and jumped up until his legs were wrapped around Kurt's waist. Kurt laughed with him and squeezed his body closer to his own.

“Umm, so how do you feel about going ring shopping tomorrow, because I kind of don't have one,” Kurt said giddily when Blaine dropped back onto the floor.

“How long have you been thinking about this?”

Kurt smiled guiltily, “About five minutes,” Blaine's eyes widened a little, “I was in there with Annabelle and after the week the three of us have had, I actually don't want it to end. I want this, Blaine. All of it. I want to be married to you, I want my kids to be _ours_.”

“You really want kids?” Blaine asked.

Kurt never thought he would, but now he didn't need to think about it, “Yes, I want kids.

“I love you, Kurt. So much.”

“I love you too.”

 


	11. In Suits

Blaine stood in front of the mirror, tucked his shirt into his pants and straitened his bow tie. Cooper was standing behind him, watching him through the mirror. Blaine felt his eyes prickle a little when he noticed the shimmering in Cooper's.

“You're not going to start crying on me are you?” Blaine smirked at Cooper's reflection and nudged him with his elbow.

Cooper scoffed, “I don't cry.”

Blaine just stared at his brother with raised eyebrows.

“Okay, fine,” Cooper relented, “Cut me some slack, Squirt. It's not every day a guy gets to see his little brother get married.”

A smile spread across Blaine's lips, thinking back to that morning. He and Kurt had been lying in bed, facing each other and talking, mostly about their nerves and excitement for the day they had ahead of themselves, but also about how this was their first day of forever and there was nothing more in the world that could make them happier. There had been tears, many, many tears while they talked about how far they had come, how they came to meet each other and how they got through it together. But they were mostly happy, ecstatic even, because they survived and now they have each other.

“I don't think there is a single thing that could top how I feel right now, Coop.” Blaine said as he looked over his suit. He was wearing a plaid shirt, wanting to steer away from tradition of a plain white shirt, that was a mixture of blues and pinks. His suit was navy and fitted, with a pocket square that matched his shirt. He gave his white bow tie one last tug before bending down to put on his white shoes.

Cooper sniffed as he watched Blaine make the final touches on is suit and tried to subtly wipe a single tear away, but Blaine saw it through the mirror, “Shut up, you. I'll be the supportive big brother later.”

Blaine laughed and grabbed Cooper by the arm, pulling him into a hug. Cooper's arms immediately engulfed Blaine in a tight squeeze, which Blaine returned. They held onto each other for a moment and Blaine tried to loosen his hold, but Cooper on tugged on him harder.

“Aww, brotherly love.”

They both turned around to see Sebastian standing in the room, suit jacket draped over his arm and tie hanging loosely around his neck. Blaine laughed, knowing full well that he had come for help, “Still don't know how to tie those things?”

Sebastian mock laughed, “Wipe that smirk off your face and help me.”

Blaine took the tie from Sebastian's neck and began looping it on itself. Sebastian watched him silently, then seemed to not handle staying quiet, “Are you nervous?”

“Very,” Blaine cringed, “But I'm happy. That's all that matters.”

Sebastian smiled as Blaine adjusted the tightness of his tie, “Kurt wants to see you, by the way.”

“He does?!” Blaine asked, his eyes lighting up.

“Go on,” Sebastian wave his hand around, gesturing towards the door. Blaine was gone within a few seconds and Sebastian looked up at Cooper with exasperation, “How are you holding up, bro?”

“Barely,” Cooper laughed as Sebastian patted him on the back, “He's in for the shock of his life, isn't he?”

Sebastian nodded, “I can't believe what Kurt has done for him today. Blaine is the luckiest man alive.”

Cooper nodded in agreement, “He sure is. How do you think he will react?”

“Let's go and find out.”

***

Kurt was standing in front of the mirror when Blaine walked in. They both stopped and stared at each other for a moment, eyes roaming over what the other was wearing. Kurt had on a dark grey suit with a shirt that matched the dark blues in Blaine's. His shoes matched his shirt as well as the his pocket square, though his tie was a lighter grey than his suit.

“Blaine,” Kurt breathed and reached for Blaine, who stepped closer until their arms were around each other, “You look...amazing.”

They hugged each other gently, Blaine's arms circled around Kurt's waist, Kurt's arms snug around Blaine's neck, “You're breathtaking,” Blaine breathed.

Kurt stepped backwards after a few moments and gave Blaine another once over, sighing in disbelief when his eyes fell on Blaine's face, eyes bright and smile wide, “Come on, I have someone who has been dying to see you.”

“Is it Rachel, because she hasn't stopped fussing all day,” Blaine scrunched his face up a little and Kurt laughed, having been the one Rachel had been fussing over.

“Like I would put you through that,” Kurt said, leading Blaine through a door that joined two rooms together, “I'm not evil.”

Blaine followed Kurt into the room and spotted a man, around his age, standing in front of the mirror, though Blaine couldn't see his reflection from the angle he was looking. Kurt was a few steps ahead of Blaine when he spoke, “I finally got him away from his brother...and the mirror.”

A scoff sounded from Blaine's lips and he was about to retaliate when the man turned around. Blaine froze. His jaw dropped and he felt his eyes prickling with tears, more than they had been when he was with Cooper.

Brown, tear-glistened eyes stared back at him, “Hi Blaine.”

“Jake,” Blaine breathed, then crumbled. He threw himself forwards into Jake, clutching at him as if in fear he would disappear at any moment. Jake held Blaine just as tight, gasping through his tears as much as Blaine was.

Kurt slowly and quietly turned around to leave the two men alone, though he bumped into Sebastian and Cooper who were watching from the door. They all smiled, somewhat relieved, then moved to the other room, shutting the door quietly behind them.

***

Blaine held Jake close to him, revelling in the feeling of having him by his side again, having him there to hold, to comfort and be comforted by. He was taken back to the days where the two of them would spend together, just the two of them in the woods behind their houses where they could be themselves, where they could be there for each other. After all the years that Blaine had spent missing Jake, he had never thought he would get the chance to see him again.

“I can't believe this is happening,” Blaine breathed, “You're here, you're okay.”

Jake pulled back a little, “Neither can I,” He shook his head. “And you, you're getting _married_.”

Blaine let out a choked laugh, “I am.”

“You have no idea how happy that makes me,” Jake sighed, “I was so scared for you, so, so scared for you, but here you are, about to marry an amazing man who loves you so much, Blaine.”

“He really is amazing,” Blaine agreed, wiping his tear streaked cheeks.

Jake pulled Blaine into another hug, holding onto him in a way that made it impossible for Blaine to let go, not that wanted to anyway. He let out a shaky breath and said, “Sorry to cut this short, but you have a fiance to marry.”

Blaine gave Jake one last squeeze then pulled away, straightening his bow tie before wiping away the last few tears on his face, “Yeah...yeah I do.”

***

The ceremony was beautiful, and although that sounds cliché, it really was. Cooper and Sebastian were dressed to match Kurt, though their suits were slightly lighter than the grey he was wearing, and were standing behind Blaine. Their shirts were a lighter blue than the navy of Kurt's and their ties were dark grey. They were standing with Rachel and who was wearing a floor length, light blue dress holding a bouquet of navy blue, white and light blue flowers.

Opposite them on Kurt's side, were Finn and Mitch, who were both in the same navy suit that Blaine was wearing, though their shirts were the same light blue the others had on. In front of them was Charlotte who was in the same dress as Rachel and also had a matching bouquet in hand.

Everyone's hearts melted when little Annabelle walked down the isle, her arm linked with James as they carried the rings together. James was dressed to match Blaine, while Annabelle was in a altered version of Rachel and Charlotte's dress with a matching bow tied in her hair.

***

During the reception, between entrees and mains, Blaine stood up with Kurt to give their speeches. Neither of them had told the other what they were planning to say, wanting each other to hear the words the for the first time at the wedding. Blaine went first, beginning by thanking everyone for coming and being there to share the special day with he and Kurt.

“Seven years ago, Kurt made me a promise. I wrote a song when I was eighteen and he promised me that I would one day be able to sing it,” Blaine looked at Kurt whose eyes were wide, mouth open a little. “I know today is meant to be the happiest day of our lives, and it is, but right now I want to do this for Kurt.”

Blaine leant over to place a quick kiss to Kurt's cheek before walking over to the small stage left of their table. He switched on the microphone and the band behind him started to play the opening of the song. Blaine was nervous, more than nervous. He had been practising since the day Kurt asked him to marry him, practising and trying to convince himself that he was ready to sing the song, to let the world hear his song. It was hard, but Cooper helped him get passed the anxiety and the fear. Blaine searched for Cooper at the table the Kurt was at. He gave Blaine a small nod of encouragement before Blaine started to sing.

“ _Strip away the flesh and bone, look beyond the lies you've known,_ ” Blaine's eyes were closed, his hands gripping the microphone. “ _Everybody wants to talk about a freak, no one wants to dig that deep,”_ Blaine looked up to meet Kurt's eyes, “ _Let me take you underneath.”_

Cooper had heard the song enough times to know how important it is, how much Blaine had put into it, how of himself Blaine had put into it. It didn't matter how many times Cooper had heard the song, it was still just as heartbreaking every time and he felt the sting behind his ears only a moment before a few tears rolled down his cheeks.

“ _Baby better watch your step, never mind what's on the left_ ,” While teaching Blaine at Dalton, Kurt had seen that Blaine wanted to scream his problems, to let everyone know that he was hurting inside, but it was fear that kept him from saying anything.

“ _You're gonna see things you might not wanna see, it's still not that easy for me, underneath_ ,” Kurt knew Blaine still had moments where things were a little hard, where some days weren't as easy to get through as others, which is why he made it his priority to make sure Blaine knew he was special, that he was amazing.

“ _A red river of screams, underneath. Tears in my eyes. Underneath. Stars in my black and blue sky,_ ” Kurt felt his tears hit his lips before he even realised he was crying. He saw Rachel dab a napkin to her eyes and even Finn brushed a finger under his own.

Blaine's eyes were closed again, not able to keep them open any longer with everyone's attention focussed on him and him only, “ _And underneath, under my skin. Underneath, the depths of my sin. Look at me, now do you see?”_

It was harder to get through the song knowing Kurt was there, but Blaine did it, needing Kurt to hear the whole thing, needing everyone else to know how much Kurt meant to him, how much he had done for him.

“ _Welcome to my world of truth, I don't wanna hide any part of me from you_ ,” Blaine sung the last line alone, no music to hide behind, just his voice and the complete honesty behind it.

Kurt had a hand over his mouth, though you could see that he was smiling. His cheeks were high and rounded, his eyes were squinted and tears were rolling over the lids. He stood up the second Blaine finished singing and walked as fast as he could towards the stage. He jumped up the small steps and threw himself at Blaine who stumbled back a little upon impact. Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck and choked out something between a laugh and a sob.

“Thank-you, Blaine,” Kurt squeezed Blaine tighter.

They pulled away after a couple of moments, wiping each others' eyes before Blaine pressed a gentle kiss to Kurt's temple before moving back to his seat at the wedding party's table. Kurt collected himself and stood in front of the microphone. He let out a shaky breath and ran a hand down his face.

“I...honestly don't know what to say,” Kurt let out a nervous laugh, “Just...I love you Blaine, so much, I...” Kurt let his head fall and tried to pull himself together, “I'm just going to sit over there with my husband.”

The room erupted into various levels of laughter as Kurt retreated back to the wedding party's table. He fell into Blaine's arms before kissing him, whispering another _'thank-you'_ against his lips.

***

After dinner was over, desserts were cleared and all impromptu speeches were done, Kurt and Blaine were ordered onto the dance floor by Finn and Cooper. Kurt smiled over at Blaine and held his hand out, which Blaine took and let Kurt lead him over to the floor where everyone had gathered on the outskirts. Finn happily pressed play on the music system as Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck and Blaine wound his own around Kurt's waist.

They swayed to the slow sounds of the piano, circling around the centre of the floor. Blaine leant close to whisper into Kurt's ear, “I didn't write this, but it says exactly what I'm thinking.”

“ _When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary_ ,” Blaine sung softly into Kurt's ear, sending a shiver down his spine. “ _When troubles come and my heart burdened be_.”

Kurt pulled Blaine closer, hiding his face in Blaine's neck, “ _Then I am still and wait here in the silence_.” Blaine coaxed Kurt to lift his head back up, gently lifting his chin until he was looking directly at Blaine. “ _Until you come and sit awhile with me._ ”

“ _You raise me up so I can stand on mountains_ ,” Blaine wrapped his arms tighter around Kurt's waist, lower then they were before, and lifted Kurt until he was hovering over him. Kurt's arms were resting on Blaine's shoulders as Blaine spun them in a circle. Kurt remembered Finn trying to do the same thing to him when they were younger, surprising him in their lounge room when _Livin' on a Prayer_ came on the radio. Kurt had felt like he was going to fall the whole time and was more than happy when Finn had put him down, but here in Blaine's arms, he felt safe and secure. “ _You raise me up to walk on stormy seas_.”

The crowd around them clapped loudly, some of them cheered, but Kurt and Blaine had only eyes for each other. Their smiles were bright, shining as they stared at each other. “ _I am strong when I am on your shoulders_ ,” Blaine lowered Kurt back to the ground, stopping them in the middle of the floor, “ _You raise me up to more than I can be_.”

Out of the corner of his eyes, Kurt could see people joining them on the dance floor. Burt and Carol joined them first, followed by Rachel and Finn, then Cooper and Charlotte. Soon everyone was on the floor, even James and little Annabelle were dancing together. Blaine spotted them to his left, dancing in each others' arms. Blaine felt Kurt nudge his arm, he looked up to where Kurt was tilting his head to see Sebastian not too far from them, arms hanging loosely around Jake's neck, while Jake's hands were resting on Sebastian's hips.

“I thought...wasn't Sebastian with that, Tim?” Kurt asked, watching as Sebastian leaned closer to Jake to say something, to which Jake smiled bashfully and ducked his head.

“They broke up,” Blaine said, watching the two of them curiously, “Tim was a jerk and Sebastian finally ended it.”

Kurt smiled when he saw Sebastian blush, a smile forcing itself onto his lips, “I've never seen him blush before.”

Blaine had never seen Sebastian blush either. In the time that Blaine had known him, he had never seen Sebastian even slightly embarrassed or nervous enough to blush. “I think I like the idea of those two.”

They swayed slowly for a little while longer, until Blaine felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to find Burt standing behind him, “Mind if I cut in?”

“Not at all,” Blaine kissed Kurt's cheek before moving from his side so Burt could step in. He turned to find Rachel hovering close by and was about to offer her a dance when she pulled him in and took the lead.

“Oh, tonight has been so beautiful, Blaine,” she gushed, “You both look so handsome and your song was beautiful, very moving. You both look amazing together.”

Blaine chuckled, “Thank-you Rachel.”

She continued to lead him around the dance floor, only just avoiding a collision with Cooper and James who were attempting a dance that would more than likely end with one of them injured. Blaine just shook his head and watched that he didn't stand on Rachel's feet.

“So, where is the honeymoon?”

“New York, for a few days.” Blaine smiled, thinking ahead to all the things he and Kurt had planned for the trip; from the ice-skating to seeing a show on Broadway to spending a whole day in Central Park. It had always been a dream of both of theirs to spend at least one winter in New York, and although they won't be there for a whole winter, the few days they were going to be there were going to be amazing.

“New York?” Rachel asked, “I can't deny that it's a perfect choice, but why not somewhere magnificent, like Paris, or London, or Canada? You could spend a week or more in one of the most beautiful places in the world with the money you have to spend!”

Blaine knew the question would come from someone, though he hadn't anticipated Rachel who he knew would ask fifty questions until she got her answer. “We're saving the money left over.”

“Oh really, what for?” Her eyes were wide with interest.

Blaine just rand his finger across his lips in a silencing action, “I would say that I would have to kill you if I told you, but Kurt would probably kill me first.”

“Are you moving house?”

“Going on a bigger holiday?”

“Getting a new car?”

Blaine remained silent as Rachel asked question after question, not even pausing between some so he can even answer; not that he was going to though. He sighed in relief when Cooper came and cut in after her thirteenth unanswered question. “I'd like to steal my brother if that's okay with you, Rachel.”

“Of course,” she smiled, curtsying to Blaine before darting away.

Cooper stepped in her place, awkwardly trying to hold his and Blaine's hands in the correct place. Blaine laughed, watching Cooper struggle, before fixing their position. “Thanks, Squirt.”

They were silent for a few moments, Blaine's attention being drawn in by Kurt who was dancing in the middle of the floor with Finn, looking all limbs and no rhythm. They were both laughing, their eyes squinting at the corners and teeth showing as Finn attempted to spin Kurt around, only ending up with them both stumbling before they found their footing.

“I never thought I would have this, Coop.” Blaine whispered, voice full of disbelief.

“You deserve every part of it, though.” Cooper said firmly, pressing a finger into Blaine's chest, “Don't ever think any different.”

Blaine felt his eyes stinging a little, “Thanks Coop.”

>>> ! <<<

It's late that night, or early the next morning depending on how you look at it, when Kurt and Blaine finally get home and are able to strip themselves of their suits, down to their underwear and crawl into bed beside each other. They both lied on their backs, staring up at the ceiling. They were exhausted, from smiling, from laughing, from talking, singing, dancing and just being overwhelmed by the whole day and night that they had been planning for a year. Kurt turned his head to face Blaine, needing to take in the radiant glow of his husband's eyes before he fell asleep.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Blaine asked, his lips curling at the corners as he turned to face Kurt.

Kurt rolled onto his side, “Because you're amazing, and beautiful and I can't believe that I have you all to myself.”

“You're incredible,” Blaine breathed, reaching out to Kurt and brushing his hand over Kurt's cheek, down his neck and along his arm until it was resting gently on his hip. Kurt let out a shaky breath and Blaine smirked, “Come here.”

“But that involves moving,” Kurt whined, “I'm too exhausted to move.”

Blaine shuffled himself closer to Kurt until their legs were touching. He kissed Kurt's neck, letting a ghost of air brush against his pale skin, making Kurt shiver again. “Are you sure you're too exhausted?”

Kurt's let out another breath, this one quick, followed by another, “I guess I could make an...exception.” Kurt's breath hitched when Blaine sucked lightly on the pulse point of his neck.

“Hmm, I think that's a good idea,” Blaine whispered before kissing Kurt on the lips, hard and long before rolling himself on top of him. Kurt's hands immediately went to Blaine's sides, running them along his hips and torso, under his shirt and along the lines of his spine. They didn't let go, as if letting go was an end, but they were at a beginning, so they didn't let go, only lost themselves in each other, in love, in forever.

“I love you,” Blaine breathed into Kurt's ear.

Kurt took a moment to catch his breath, but said back, “I love you too, Blaine. So much.”


	12. Ever Since

Blaine put the last dinner plate on the rack to dry. He pulled the plug in the sink and let the water drain out while he wiped his hands on a hand towel. He had just finished washing up the dishes from his and Kurt's dinner with Rachel and Finn, who had come over on their free night away from Annabelle. Finn was in the lounge room, having been kicked out of the kitchen by Blaine, who wouldn't let him help with washing up. Rachel was more persistent and forced Kurt out of the kitchen given that he had been the one to cook dinner.

“Have you decided on a colour yet?” Rachel asked.

Blaine finished wiping down the bench and turned to Rachel. “No not net. We don't want to jinx anything.”

“You don't need to worry,” Rachel assured him, “You'll be...”

Rachel trailed off, her words blurring together as if she were mumbling. Blaine watched her in confusion until her eyes rolled back and her body went limp. He rushed forward to catch her, stopping her head from hitting the counter.

“Rach,” Blaine put a hand to her cheek, tapping it gently. “Rach, Rachel wake up. Rachel!”

Blaine slapped his hand against her face, harder this time, “Rachel!”

“Finn!” Blaine cried, placing his fingers on the pulse point of Rachel's neck where he felt her heart beating fast. “Kurt!”

Finn and Kurt came rushing into the room, Kurt gasping while Finn immediately dropped to Rachel's side. He touched his hand to her face, gently at first like Blaine had then harder when she didn't respond. “Rachel!”

Her eyes fluttered a little before opening. She looked around the room in confusion until her eyes found Blaine, “What happened?”

“You're okay, you just passed out.” Blaine assured her, running his fingers through her hair.

Rachel's skin paled, turning white as a sheet against Blaine's olive skin, “I feel...dizzy.”

“Kurt, call an ambulance!”

>>> ! <<<

Kurt and Blaine were in the hallway of the hospital, both staring at the wall in front of them, not moving. Their eyes were rimmed in tears, their hands were gripped together in between them as they waited. They both jumped when Kurt's phone started ringing; he knew it would be Burt, he had been trying to get a hold of his father since they left their house.

“Dad, hi,” Kurt said, sounding exhausted in just two words.

“Hey kiddo, what's going on?”

Kurt let out a long breath and Blaine squeezed his hand, “Rachel is in the hospital. She got really dizzy and passed out at home. We don't know anything yet, Blaine and I are waiting to hear from the doctor.”

“Oh Kurt, how are you both doing, how's Finn?”

“We're okay, just really worried because we don't know what's going on. Finn is in with Rachel while they're doing some tests. He wouldn't leave the room.”

Burt laughed lightly, “Of course he wouldn't.” He sighed, “I'll let you go be with Blaine, but you call me as soon as you hear anything.”

“I will Dad, love you.”

“Love you, Kiddo,”

Kurt hung up and slipped his phone back into his pocket before he turned to Blaine who opened his arms up. Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine and buried his face into his neck.

“She's going to be okay, Kurt,” Blaine into Kurt's ear while rubbing soothing circles over Kurt's back. He pressed a kiss to Kurt's temple.

They held each other for a while, their grip slowly loosening until they settled into a comfortable embrace. Blaine was about to suggest they go and get a coffee or something when a door opened.

“Kurt, Blaine.” Finn called out and both boys jumped out of their seats and met Finn at the door.

“What's happening, is she okay, is she going to be alright?” Kurt asked, panicked.

Finn laughed, “She's perfectly fine, fantastic even.”

Blaine stared at Finn in confusion, “I'm not following.”

“Guys, Rachel's pregnant.”

Kurt slapped his hands over his mouth to prevent the squeal that nearly escaped while Blaine stared straight ahead, eyes wide and mouth open. Kurt turned to Blaine and put his hands on Blaine's shoulders, shaking him until he looked Kurt in the eye.

“We're going to be dads!” Kurt cried, his eyes crinkled at the corners, his earlier tears falling this time, “Blaine, we're having a baby!”

“Oh my god,” Blaine breathed and latched onto Kurt, kissing him full on the mouth before pulling him into a tight hug where he lifted him off the ground and spun him in a circle.

When they finally pulled apart and acknowledged Finn's presence again, Finn held out his arms, “Congrats little bros,” and pulled them into a hug.

>>> ! <<<

Kurt felt his eyelids drooping, the effort of keeping his eyes open becoming too much. They had started to sting over half an hour ago, but he had forced himself to stay awake in the hopes it would help him sleep. He was exhausted. Between working long hours on set and being kept awake at night by the cries of a three-month old baby, Kurt hadn't been getting much rest.

Blaine was suffering just the same, though he bounced back a lot easier than Kurt did. Not a day goes by where Kurt doesn't envy his husband's energy; the way he can be awake until the early hours of the morning only to be up again a couple of hours later. It had been a roller-coaster ride since the day they came home from the hospital, having waited to leave on the same day as Rachel.

Some days had been better than others, the days where Kurt found himself smiling for hours after watching Blaine hold their son in his arms, cooing at the boy who showed him no attention. The day Blaine had babbled nonsense in their son's face and was met with a gummy grin, Kurt had not stopped smiling all day, the delighted giggle that Blaine had made constantly echoing in his mind.

There were the bad days however, the days where Kurt just wanted to switch off. There were only so many hours he could lose of sleep until his body and mind couldn't cope any longer and had to shut down.

He felt his eyes close but jolted upright when he heard a cry from down the hall. He must have fallen asleep because it was significantly darker outside than it had been when his eyes closed. Even though his limbs howled in protest, he still got off the couch and forced himself down the hall. He got halfway down when he heard the cries falter, followed by Blaine's gentle voice. Kurt stood outside the nursery and leant up against the door frame. He watched as Blaine lifted a tiny bundle of blankets out of the cot.

They had finally decided on a colour scheme for the nursery after week and weeks of debating. Their problem was, they hadn't known if they were having boy or a girl, and even if they did, both of them were adamant that they weren't going with pink or blue. Blaine hated green as a colour for a room, but Kurt refused to put yellow paint to a wall, so they settled on neutral.

The walls were painted white and the furniture was a deep mahogany. On the far wall were two tall windows, spaced evenly along the wall, between them was a chest of draws with decorative toys displayed on top. Above it was the name _Bennett_ in individual letters cut from wood that matched the rest of the furniture. In the corner, next to one of the windows was a soft rocking chair with brown and apricot coloured cushions.

Blaine had his back to Kurt and was bouncing his body up and down gently, talking softly. “You know, if you keep crying like that, you're going to wake daddy, and he's very tired because a certain someone is a little exhausting.”

Bennett gargled, having stopped crying, and reached out with one of his tiny hands to grab and Blaine's nose. Blaine laughed before taking Bennett's hand in his own, switching to just letting Bennett grip his pointer finger in his tiny fist. Bennett looked a lot like Blaine. They didn't know for sure who was his biological father, but judging by his brown eyes and already dark,curling hair, they had an idea and Kurt was more than okay with that.

“That's right Ben, yes it is.” Blaine waved his hand around, pulling Bennett's with it. “So how are we going to get you to sleep this time, little man?”

“You could sing him a song.”

Blaine's head snapped up and turned to see Kurt leaning against the door frame. His eyes were fluttering with the effort to keep them open and his limbs were barely supporting him up, but he had a happy smile on his lips. Blaine frowned at him. “What are you doing up, you're supposed to be sleeping.”

“And miss this?” Kurt said quietly, gesturing towards Bennett, who now had Blaine's fingers in his mouth and was smiling around them.

Blaine looked down and laughed at Bennett, “Yes because who would want to miss the chance to be slobbered on by dis wittle guy.” Blaine turned back to Kurt, “Seriously though, you should go to bed, you look exhausted.”

“No, I'm okay,” Kurt smiled, trying to reassure Blaine. It wasn't really working, but he stepped into the room and stood beside his husband and son anyway. “I don't get to see him like this very often, with you.”

Blaine smiled sadly for a moment, knowing that Kurt was right. Even though they had both been home together most nights, it was still hard to have time together that didn't involve bathing, cleaning, changing or feeding, and those were the times when Bennett wasn't crying.

Kurt tugged Blaine's arm gently and moved toward the rocking chair. He sat down and nodded for Blaine to sit with him. Blaine manoeuvred himself to sit comfortably on Kurt's lap with his legs draped over the arm of the chair. He turned Bennett to face Kurt and leant back into Kurt's chest. Kurt wrapped his arm around Blaine's back and used his other hand to play with Bennett's fingers.

“I was thinking, Ben is three months old which is the perfect age to travel, did you want to visit your parents?” Blaine asked softly, watching Bennett curl his tiny hands around Kurt's finger, smiling cheekily.

“But, weren't we talking about them coming here?” Kurt asked.

Blaine sighed, though he was smiling, “I'm okay, Kurt. I know you want to go back to Ohio so Burt and Carol can meet Bennett and I'm okay with going back.”

Kurt watched Blaine for a moment. “Are you sure?”

“If I wasn't sure, I would insist on them coming here instead.” Blaine said, “And as if I would give up the opportunity to see where you grew up.”

Kurt laughed, which Bennett reacted to by squeezing his finger harder. Kurt still didn't look entirely convinced, so Blaine pushed on, looking Kurt directly in the eyes. “Kurt, I promise you that I am in the best place that I can be right now, I have been in the best place ever since I walked into my house to find you sitting at the kitchen table.”

Bennett made a sound that was bordering on a giggle, snapping Kurt and Blaine out of staring. Blaine tapped Bennett on his nose, forcing an actual giggle out of him this time. Kurt laughed and wrapped his arms slightly tighter around the two boys on his lap.

“ _Words don't come easy without a melody,”_ Blaine sang softly, looking down at Bennett who still had hold of Kurt's finger. “ _I'm always thinkin', in terms of do-re-mi._ ”

“ _I should be hikin', swimmin', laughin' with you,_ ” Bennett's grip loosened on Kurt's finger and his attention turned to Blaine. “ _Instead I'm all out of the tune_.”

Blaine's voice shook a little, when he saw Kurt look up out the corner of his eye. Since their wedding, Blaine had been performing more and more until he was able to perform in front of large crowds, but singing in front of Kurt always made him nervous.

“ _But what you don't know, you lift me off the ground_ ,” Blaine gave Kurt's hand a squeeze, “ _You're inspiration, you help me find myself_.”

Bennett was relaxing in Blaine's arms, starting to feel heavier as he began to get sleepy. “ _Just like a bass line in half time, you hold down the groove, that's why I'm counting on you_.”

Blaine snuggled himself and Bennett closer against Kurt, “ _And when I hear you on the radio, I'd never want to change a single note, it's what I tried to say all along_.”

Bennett's eyes drooped until they fluttered closed and his breathing evened out. Blaine brushed his fingers over the soft, dark hair on Bennett's head before looking up at Kurt.

“ _You're my favourite song.”_

Kurt stared at Blaine, eyes a little wide and mouth parted slightly. He'd been trying to figure out what song Blaine had been singing from the start, having not recognised the tune nor the lyrics until the final line. He still remembered the day he read those words, read them over and over just trying to make sense of them. He still remembered the glimmer of hope he had felt, hope that maybe, just maybe, he had something to do with the words. He had forced the thought out of his mind the moment he closed Blaine's notebook. That was, until now.

A single tear dropped onto Kurt's cheek and Blaine watched it run down his pale, clear skin and over his lips. He reached out with his thumb to wipe it away, letting his thumb linger on Kurt's bottom lip. After a moment, Kurt leant close until their lips brushed together, kissing Blaine softly.

“I've wanted to you to hear that song since the day I wrote it because I already knew that I was in love.” Blaine said when they pulled away.

Kurt's mouth dropped open, “Since...?”

“Yeah, ever since.”


End file.
